Thy Queen s Privateer
by DrR3Z
Summary: In a new era of Sea expansion, and searching for new continents, Finn has become the captain of the ship known as the Ragnar. One of the most known and deadly privateers of the Sea. He has become a warrior and tamer of the sea. But, when he comes back home, can Finn continue his new lifestyle while keeping his friends? Left as a kid, came like a Man. Champion, or Pirate.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

"Come on Finn! It´s not over yet!" Screamed Jake with an exhausted tone, spitting saliva while saying it.

"Will it be over soon?!" I screamed in reply, in a not less tired tone but without the spitting.

"That´s the point!" He said, looking away from me into what was in front of him. It was for the best, he almost ran into one of the endless tree´s inside this forest.

"How far are we now?!" I asked.

"Ask them!" He screamed while jumping over a giant root, property of the "Father" tree of this forest.

I look behind me, seeing the path we were leaving, along those who we were running from. I don't know what they were exactly. They had a why-wolf like type of body, but they were running of their 4 legs. They were fast, probably because of their long, powerful legs. Their eyes were like Marceline´s, red and could probably see through my soul. To seal the deal, a tiger head.

"Are we there yet?!" I asked, well, screamed. Looking those creatures in the eyes scared me. Not because of them getting to us, but what Marceline would do to us if we were unable to deliver the package.

"Jump Finn! Just don't look down!" Jake jumped from the end of the cliff, the end of the forest, of the race.

I look behind one last time into their eyes. _Man, thank Glob Marceline is not the one we´re running from_. I look back to the front, seeing the trees finally ending, and light entering the dark forest, which for some reason, made the creatures stop chasing us. Cowards.

"¡See you in the Nightosphere, beasts!" One last scream before jumping that cliff.

I jumped off without thinking about it.

I don't know why, but time became slower during the fall. It was beautiful. I jumped with my arms extended, like one those animals who came before. An Eagle. Birds flying around, islands under me, a beautiful blue sky over. It was a tall and long fall. I look in front of me, and close my eyes.

I let go.

"¡Wake up everybody, it´s time to fish!" Someone screams, waking me up. I open my eyes.

_Why did I just dream about that?_

Light came between the cracks of wood. Seagulls screaming. Footsteps coming from the floor above me. I hear the waves crashing against the walls of the boat; some drops of water get through the spaces, wetting the rotting wood.

"¡Captain, we need you in the main deck!" Another sailor screams, this time for the captain.

I decide to get up from the hammock, and stretch my body. I give some cracking sounds because of it. After scratching my head, putting on my ragged-slave like pants, I walk through the room to the table to the right of the bed. _¿Why didn´t I slept there in the first place? _There's a map on top of it, we took it probably from one of those many raids we did last year.

"3 years. We´ll go back to the port" I say to myself, almost whispering.

I take the jar full of drinkable water in front of the map, serve a glass, and drink it. I enjoy it. Taste sugary, probably because of the permanent salt taste we privateers have in our mouths.

"¡It´s a monster!" Says another random sailor. ¿_Why are they screaming?_

I go to the front door, not much of a walk, it´s directly on front of the table. 12 steps and I´m already out. The Sun is blinding me. My skin is rough, my hair is terrible, and I´m full of scratches and scars, but I still can´t endure this sun. I look around the ship full of men, the crew I belong to. To the right, men fixing the cannons. To the left, men sharpening the hooks. Behind and in front of me, were either the engineers fixing the mortars, or men practicing shooting with the guns.

"¡Captain, the Boat is ready to go harpoonin´!" One of the pirates, dead-eye Malik, screams while pointing to the cock boat being dropped into the sea by the side of the hook-sharpeners.

_¿Where is the Captain? _I think to myself, seeing the captain nowhere. I´m just guessin´, but I´m sure I´ll have to go to the cock boat and harpoon instead of ´im.

"Blondie, go to the cock boat" I don't know who, but someone is telling me what to do.

I´ll look for him after the harpooning, and then I´ll break his fingers. Maybe a couple of teeth, so he learns to not talk to me like that,

"Chill mates, we have enough time today. ¿Don't we? We should enjoy harpooning season, lads. They pay well for the wolf-whale meat in the market" I say to the men on the deck.

"¡Aye, aye!" They reply happily. I know they are excited; this season pays its weight in gold.

I go down the stairs into the deck where all the lads are, most of them greet me, others, for reasons I forgot, look away when I salute them.

I finally get to the left side of the ships, and, by the cannons, I see the lad who always goes hunting with me. In the end, we have a new harpooning-canoe and Ragnar is hungry for some Whale.

"¿What are we hooking today, Arbaaz?" I ask the Chief Officer, Arbaaz Rus.

Rus is quite a mate; I met him first when I joined the crew. He comes from a settlement close to the Mountain Kingdom, but his brother took him to the shores of the west. He grew there and became a true sailor. Is quite a pleasure we became mates, as he could have killed me with those weird sharp knife-like fingers he has in his hands. But I could kill him now.

"We are found a Lion-Whale roaming close to this shores last night. There´s possibly a pack of ´em close. This one, he´s quite the big basterd. He could bite the arse of this barque and would still be hungry." He doesn´t quite hides his excitement in his tone. ¿Does he?

"Why is he bleeding?" I ask, seeing that a pond of blood lies 9 meters ahead of us.

"Ummm, I, well, we…Ahum….we were" Rus answers, with ebarrasment in his tone.

He probably fucked up.

"You were really excited because this one is a male, and males are fighters, and you like hard catches" I ask calmly.

"Aye, sir" He replies.

"So I guess that you and the boys were for the spear guns, and blindly tried to sink him. That wasn´t very bright, was it?"

"Sire, before we continue…" Fear appears in his tone, with just a drip of distress.

"Tell me our hunting motto" I say to him with a strong tone.

"Never let the animal suffer, and we must give it peace, as it´s death its only part of the natural course. We are the hunters, the rest are the pray." He finally came back to his senses.

I may have to beat him some manners.

"Rus…" I turn to him, and put my hands in his shoulders.

"Yes, Finn?" He says with a much relaxed tone.

"Don´t ever do this again" I head-butt him right in the nose after I finish my sentence.

He trips over with his broken nose, bleeding a lot. I give him a hand and raise him up once more.

"Get ready"

"Aye. Lads, drop the harpooning canoe. Time to go fishing!"

Finally, the cock boat or canoe drops into the water. I look at Rus and get a glance at what he´s wearing. Nothing but his pants, a cloth belt, and his black head kerchief. I´m ready too, as my white ragged-slave pants are the only thing I´m wearing.

And my precious necklace.

"Get in captain!" Two lads scream at us from the canoe in the water. They are the harpoon sharpeners who go with us in every hunt.

"Let's go Rus" Rus and I jump off from Ragnar.

We both landed perfectly. One of the lads, which I see that is Dead-Eye, gives me the rope-harpoon. Well, chain-harpoon, because a rope won't be able to endure a 60 ton animal dragging us around like a ragged doll.

"Get in position" He slaps me in the neck. Rus´s right, I´m not in proper position.

I go to the front end of the boat, and see around 9 to 12 harpoons, waiting to be thrown, by my right hand. The position is quite simple: Go to the front, arc your back just a bit, put your left leg in front of your right, and hold the harpoon at an ear height.

"Lads, get ready. I see foam mixed with blood coming from deep within. The king is going to rise really soon" I tell to the lads, so they get mentally ready to be dragged.

They are ready, we´ve been in this boat at least 3 years now. And, if they are not ready after spending almost countless hours and days in a boat, which touches land only 1 time a month, I´ll throw them myself into the sea. If they drown, they were useless. If not, they stay.

"We better go back to the boat. I have heard the stories. They say that Julian Braman ship was sunk down when he tried to harpoon one Lion-Whale" The other lad, who isn´t Malik or Rus, warned us.

"What the hell are you talking about? Get your head out of your arse right now." Malik said to the guy.

"What a pisspot. You don't know what a huge piece of shite just left your mouth. Those are only rumours, no one are truly sure Julian is dead. And the last time I checked, Dead men tell no tells" Rus told to the coward.

"Dead men collect no booty either" I said in response.

"Aye, now you´re talking like a real pirate. Took you a while."

"Three long years, Rus. Three long years away from home" I responded, but my eyes were still glued to the sea.

The foam was now becoming waves, and the blood was really showing now. I saw a white shadow under us.

"Sorry" I whisper for myself.

I saw him coming toward us, full speed. He opened his mouth, full of rage and pain, which we caused. With speed and vengeance he came closer, so close I was able to look him into his eyes. He had the same eyes as every beautiful creature has. I felt pitiful.

"Captain! Let´s go back, please, I´m afraid" The pisspot screamed once more. So Rus did what we do with cowards, throw them into the jaws of deadly animals.

But, _Why did he called for the Captain? He´s not here. Is he calling Rus Captain? Or me?..._

"Captaaaaaaaaaaaaain!" He screamed one last time.

The beast opened his mouth, showed us the quality of his set of daggers. I saw that coward fly off, and when he was about to get eaten, I remembered something. Something that filled me with pain, anguish, rage and pride. The reason my most weak men look away when I salute, and the reason why the most beautiful women fall for me with just a word. The one reason I came here, and the thing that has put my name in the history and wanted posters.

_I´m Finn the Human, Captain of the Ragnar. _

"Die by my hand Beast!" I screamed with all the power buried inside my soul.

I sent that harpoon with all the force that I had, and it went right through that beats head. The blade penetrated its head, and caused a bigger leak of blood come out. The pisspot survive, I sent the harpoon before he had become lunch.

"We did it!" Screamed Rus.

"Aye, aye my Captain!" Rus comments was quickly followed by the crew´s.

"Prepare the tow, we are boarding this monster" I was proud of my achievement.

Our crew is pretty fast and smart, in less than 15 minutes they were towing him. I took a glance at him. It was beautiful, magnificent creature. Glob must have been tired after making it.

While I was concentrated, admiring my _Second_ best catch, Rus came close to me and touched my shoulder. Probably to get my attention. I turned back, and saw true concern in his face. I know what he will say.

"It´s time, Captain. Time to go back" In a melancholic tone, Rus spoke to me.

I took a deep breath.

"Yeah…it´s time to go back" I turned my back to Rus and looked to the fron of the Canoe. I saw once more the virtually endless ocean we have sail for the past 3 years of my life.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

He knows that I´m scared of coming back home. But I was scared with the Sea once, and I dominated my fear. I have become one of its many ruler, and now, I don't fear the sea, but the Sea must fear _Me._

"Don´t worry." I told Rus while I escalated to our ship.

I saw everybody greet me, they were cheering for the catch. Since I last remember, the other ships that belong to our fleet, Rok, Ferruginous, Thors, Carrie and Bonnie, to name a few, are loaded with whales at least half the side of today´s.

"Get ready Lads, we´re coming back home. Get everything clean and organized, including yourselves. Disorder is a great offense to our Queen" I told the crew to get ready.

"Fuck your Queen. You talk as if you had shagged her." The person who said this, the one who called me Blondie.

I turned back and saw and old men. He looked weak and sick, and his size was short. Big words for a short men. I walked towards him, and looked him in the eyes. 1 minute passed.

"What´s yo´problem Captain? Did ya get offended because of whatai said of yar Queen?" This dude had the balls to reply.

I smiled at him calmly, the turned back to Rus with the same smile. He laughed.

"Hahaha! Oh, old men, you´re fucked" Rus told the old men his fate.

"What will this goat-shagger could do to me? He´s basicly a wom-" He was talking until I interrupted him by sendind a knee kick to his jaw.

I saw many teeth fly away, and some blood.

He fell to the ground, moaning because of pain. I got close, kneeled down, took his hand, and snapped his wrist bones.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Screamed the basterd.

I continued with my deeds by snapping all his fingers, and breaking his elbow. I remember him lying down, like a sick, dying dog. Pathetic.

"Send him to the Ringed Sharks, Rus, he´s fucking useless" When I said him, I heared him trying to protest, but pain only let him give a muted moan.

The boys got his body/corpse from the ground, and in an 1,2,3 they threw him to the blue ringed shark. If the bites didn´t kill him, the poison from the rings will. If they don´t, I´ll go into the water myself and break his neck.

I felt tired, and went back to my room without saying anything. The lads are going to get ready anyway; they are not babies who need that things must be said twice for them. When the door opened, calm covered me.

_We´re going home…_

Joy was my biggest feeling.

_ I wonder how Princess Bubblegum is doing, or as they call her now, Queen Bonnibel. Marceline´s wellbeing also concerns me; I have had many dreams with her, and how is she doing is a question that bugs me a lot. Jake and Lady…maybe not, yeah, is better not to. What about, what was her name, Fire Princess? Heat Duchess? Flame Queen? I don´t remember the girl Jake wanted to introduced me to. I´ll look for her, and ask her out, just to see what was Jake thinking. _

It has been 3 years since I left. I walk up to my mirror in the left corner, and take a glance at myself from head to toes.

My hair, shaggy and dirty. I know I´m older now, because of the black roots that are appearing. My left eyebrow is divided in half by a small scar. Nose, mouth and ears? Okay. My teeth are clean; I put a lot of effort in cleaning them. My neck is thicker, and my shoulders are broader. My whole body is more muscular, muscles can now be seen really easily. My biggest scar is the one that goes from my right, lowest ab, to the bottom of my left bicep. Legs are longer and stronger too. Hands and feet full of scars. You could say that I own a true sailors hands.

In the end, my biggest change is that I´m not Candy Kingdom champion anymore. I´m the captain of a pirate fleet, a warrior of the sea. A salt wolf.

_Have they changed too?_


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: **

**Fun Fact: I wrote this story two times before, one got erased and I didnt liked the other one. And it took me around 3 weeks to finish this one.  
**

**Chapter 1: I can Dream, Right?**

Night fell upon us, the skies turned black and the Sun died. Didn´t took too long. All of the crew was sleeping, even those in charge of the night shift. Understandable, today´s catch was hard; towing requires lots of men and their strength. I was out in the deck sharping harpoons, while whispering a song. I felt a little cold, as I was still wearing only my "slave" pants, just this time I was wearing some thick leader gloves, to avoid auto-stabbing myself in the palm of my hands. I remember when I joined the crew, and the first time I sharped one of these two meters long harpoons, I stabbed my left hand, leaving a scar the size of my palm. The scar direction was in a slope.

I continued to sharp the Harpoons calmly, and decided to take a quick glance at the crystal water that laid 6 meters on front of me. The moon´s reflection was bouncing in the water, some even in the boat. I raise my head for the first time to the moon in the whole night, wondering if this moon that I was looking at, could connect me to another person, who was also looking at it. It was all gray-silver like, with a rocky and dusty texture. But it was illuminating this dark night.

"Aye Captain, how everythin´doin´tonight?" Rus quietly sneaked up to me.

"I thought that a lazy basterd like you would be knocked out by now. So it´s true what the crew men say" I reply without looking at him.

"What do these illiterate assholes say?" He approached me, walking a few steps.

I turn around and look him in the eyes, while giving a small smirk.

"You can only sleep with a bottle by your side" I answer his questions

"Shut up. Why do they care in the first place? It´s not like this empty headed crewmen had a life of their own, so they interfere in others life´s" I heard a little drip of anger in his tone.

"Hey, respect your fellow crew men. We are all privateers, we are equal. There is no law except the one one´s forges, and I forged a law in which you must respect the crewmen" I answer with 2 drops of anger in mine.

"Why does it bother you so much?" He asks with some incredibility.

"Because, you little sea-puppy, we sail together, we fight together, and we drown together." Hope this answers satisfies him.

"You, no, we don´t even know where most of the Lads come from" It didn´t

"Does it matter? We come from nowhere and our home is this ship, and our flag is hanged from the mastiff." I give an answer while I look away and continue my sharping.

Rus doesn´t reply this time, probably thinking about what I said to him. I continue my duty and sharp even faster.

"Raaaaawrrrr!" A beast screamed.

I stand up from the little box-footstool I had for chair, and look up north, searching for that beast.

"Over there, slightly to your left" Rus has the best eye in the whole crew, no wonder he saw that beast now before me.

That thing jumps from the water and splashed back into it.

"Should we?" Rus asks while looking to the harpoons

"No. Remember, only kill when hungry. And we have already done enough killing. Haven't we?" I hate lying to myself.

"Ho ho ho, captain, you know, better than any o´us, that there's never enough killing. Never." Rus has never lied to me, but sometimes I wish he would.

I don't respond and sat down on the box once more, and sharp the last rusty harpoon. It's amazing how fast blood can make metal rust. Rus right, there's never enough killing when you´re a privateer. Law of the sea makes someone else drown, or that someone will drown you.

"So, what are you goin´to do when we arrive to port? We´re only 3 days far to the Kingdom Continent" He asks me a question I wanted to avoid

He surprised me with that question. My heart skipped a beat and I choked on my own saliva. Rus then patted me really hard in the back, laughing.

"Don´t fucking know, Rus." I reply barely breathing.

"Don't push yourself too hard, captain, these men need you, and I´m one of those men." Rus told me this while he was leaving the main decks, and went to the steps to the floors under us.

As Rus leaves me alone, I finish this last harpoon. Seeing things change its form surprises me, as such a tool I´m holding in my hand was inside the flesh and coated with blood a couple hours ago. Now, in a pair of steady hands, its inoffensive, useless. Most things go through this process; they kill and then return to a steady, calm form. If they not, they are the ones to kill.

I decide to step up, and go to the front of our ship. If I calculate right, our boats length is around 65 to 75 meters long, and I´m in the below the half, so it's a 20 seconds walk. Feeling the waves crashing with the walls of Ragnar calms the crew, and me. No wonder we sleep so well in a sea infested with outlaws, pirates, privateers and monsters. We call it the "Sea Lullaby", and lots of sailors have made the mistake of thinking it that is the soothing roar of a sleepy beast.

_The Sea never sleeps._

As I arrive to the front, I look to that virtually endless sea, wondering how living in the land feels like, as I have forgotten the feeling. The Stars can take us anyplace in the world, maybe in the space, but they can't take you home. Wind comes from the right, its cold, really cold; we are probably close to the **_Mad Sea_**, named in honour of the king of the kingdom that's right below it.

_3 days from home_

Such thoughts scare me, and enrage me. Whats the point in fooling myself? I have no home but the brig I walk on, and no family except the outlaws I call crew, and sail under the flag of the only nation we belong to. This era, damn this era, but it has liberated many men from the ever ending land, to the almost infinite sea.

I walk back to the Captain´s Cabin, my room, while I fill my mind with lots of questions. As I approach the door, I take a quick glance at the skulls attached to the top of the entrance. Two ferruginous Haws skulls attached to a single Haast´s eagle. Is there a reason for them being where they are? The hawks look to the East and West, and the eagle to the north and future. I don't like how the north is looking at me today, its glance it's menacing.

"What are you looking at?" Not enough sleeping is harming me, I just asked a skull why is looking at me.

I realize my mistake, and run forward to the bows sprit, and jump off to the winter sea. I swim around 5 meters down, and decide to taste these waters. Salty and bloody, many corpses are buried in this sand. While I was floating in this dark blue water, I see a Red Shark swimming right below me. Something that really pisses them off is when any creature looks at them in the eye. Fucking mistake I make, because I just looked at him with my two, light blue eyes, to his two, black eyes.

That bastard just decides to come right at me. With my right hand, I take my necklace and put it in a stabbing pose. Good thing that it's a cross with a metal tip. He just rushed up, and became bigger the close he got. This beast was read on his back, white on his tummy, full of scars and with black dots all over his body. When I was in a distance to touch him, I swim to my left, while he just rammed his head to the position I was, and stabbed him in the eye and nose.

Twice.

Quite a coward was that beast, as he wasn't able to even pinch my skin with his sharp teeth, and after I blind him for life in the right eye and destroy a part of his sense of smell, he just decides to run off bleeding. Bad decision, because in the moment he passes our ship, a livyatan rises from the darkness of the sea, and eats him in one bite.

After I ran out of breath, after two minutes, I rise from the darkness too and climb back to the ship. Between shivering's and laughs, I step on the deck and move forward to my room, while singing fragment of a shanty.

"Oh mighty queen, why are thou so pretty? Too bad you´ve been taken, it's a petty. Too many men have wished your hand, and you slapped their dreams in vain. Why do you cause so much pain?" I step into my room, and stop the singing.

With two rocks that I leave on the nightstand to the left of the door, I light a candle, which I use to light the chandelier, but not this time. Time is useless in the sea, but I take out from the chest under the bed my trusty, chain clock. 00:47 am. I close it up, and put it back where it belongs. Finally, I lie down on my bed, not before blowing off the candle, and try to sleep. Thoughts and questions attack my mind in the dark.

_What I´m going to do? I just left. No notes, no goodbyes. I must accept the way they decide to receive me, good or bad. If they even decide to. Does it matter? We will just stay for two or three weeks, a month if we have to. Rus is the only one who knows my past, he knows why I´m so scared, yet anxious. How is everybody doing? News is the only thing I have heard from home…no, the Candy Kingdom in three years. Being Queen must be tough. Maybe not, Marceline´s life doesn't look hard at all, and she´s a queen. _

Suddenly, a spark of courage, mixed with nostalgia, made me decide what to do.

_I know! First, we must get to the docks, then I will clean myself really well. Then, I will buy myself some clean robes, and ask for a reunion with her highness. I will buy a mask, and will use it when I´m with her. Must ask for a dinner, and use the name the marine gave me. _

Quite the surprise I felt when I saw for the first time a wanted poster, with a bad picture of myself. In the picture, I´m giving the back and you can barely see my face, and I was dirty that day, and my hair was extremely long.

_Where did they come with that name in the first place, Liam Cormac, what a name. Anyway, I´ll talk with her, and will tell her about the vessels I onw, and that I declare my loyalty to her._

I that moment, I opened my eyes, left the bed, lighted on once more the candle, and decided to burn the palm of my hand.

_What an idiot, no one would want to be with Liam Cormac. I´m the most wanted pirate of the North Sea!_

With thought of sadness, I take out a bottle of Rum from the closet right to the door, and decide to soak my pain in alcohol.

_Why I´m such and idiot?! Why did I left?!_

This rum hits hard and fast.

I drank in one sit the bottle, moved to my bed and decided to sleep. Maybe dreams will cure this pain.

Slowly and steady, I fade off to my dream.

I open my eyes, and I´m sleeping under the tree house. My body feels light, and smaller.

"Hey, Finn. Good Morning" Someone speaks, a woman, with a beautiful, soothing voice.

My body gets up automatically, and I decide to follow the voice, which came from my right. After turning my head east, I see a pink form, taller than me, prettier than a flower, and with a smile worth my soul.

"Hey, Bonnie. How ya doing?" I reply with amazement in my tone.

"Bonnie? Since when do you call me by that name Finn?" She responds, with a giggle at the end.

That little, subtle smile makes me blush. I feel the warmth in my cheeks and something even warmer in my heart.

"Wait, are you blushing? Come on, Finn! Is it because of me?" She blushes too.

She recognized that what I did was because of her beauty.

I nod two or three times, and look at her. Her dress fits perfectly with her body, and for reasons I don't understand, I want her without it. Her thin, long arms. Perfect example of the beauty of her soft, sugary skin. They give her the look of a lady, of a Queen.

_The Queen of Queens._

"Princess, you are…" I don't finish my sentence, as I decide to look more at her.

"I´m a what, Finn? Hmm, Smart? Classy? Funny? Heroic?" She asks me with smile on her face, like if she was daring me to respond something different.

Her face, round, yet her cheekbones can be seen when she smiles. Her cheeks, they are little "redder" compared to the rest of her pink skin. They look soft, and cute. Right under her, nose, lay her lips. They are surely the most beautiful of all the candy women. A light pink coats them, and they shape the most beautiful smile I have seen, and cage some of the most clever and poetic words I´ve heard in my short life.

"Emm, Finn? Did you hear me?" She asks, but I don't nod this time.

Her eyebrows, a mix of brown and pink. Not too thin, not too thick. But according to modern standards of beauty, they would be called thick. Their job is to form part of her expressions, which make her so cute and smart at times. Under those two eyebrows, lay two pearls with a diamond in their center. Perfection is the word. A white that shines, even in the dark, cover two perfectly round iris´s. Their colour is an electric blue, with a bit of green close to the pupil, which are big, giving her such a feminine look.

"Perfect" I say without thinking, but it just felt right.

"Perfect? What is perfect?" She asks me, with a confused look.

Her hair falls so naturally, and it's as pink as you could think. If pink itself decide to live as something, it would be her hair. It's a thick hair, filled with thin individual locks. They are so bright, so perfect. The light bounces as it would bounce in a amethyst.

"You" I reply.

She blushes even more, and gives a shocked expression.

My body starts to move on its own, and travels from the shadow of the tree, to the light covering the green grass in which she stands. Still blushing, she sees me, but she doesn't move. I don't think I just react to her image, and to my heart whispering: _Be with her._

I arrive to her and in an instant I hug her. Couple minutes pass, and my soul feels at home.

_Could this be love? _

I embrace the feeling, and with my eyes close, a whisper leaves me, looking for her ear.

"Please, don't ever leave me" Tone filled with sadness

"What have you become, Finn?" She asks.

"What do you meant?" I ask back.

"Look at you, please" She replies.

I open my eyes, and step back. We´re in her room now, inside the castle. Everything seems off. She looks older now, a couple of years older. Her look is mature, and full of wisdom, but still as beautiful. She takes my hand, and puts in her face, while she looks at me with concern.

Then, she drops my hand and moves to the right. A mirror was behind her, now looking at me.

I´m also older now. The top of my body is naked, and I wear a black cargo pants, with a pair of black boots on my feet. My arms are stronger now, veins are easily seen, and I have tattoos all over it, related to either war of the sea. My chest has an eagle spreading its wings tattoo, and I still have my scar, but now, scars that can only be caused because of sharks can be seen. You can describe vulgar my body as "Ripped". My face shows my age, I can't be more of 27 or 29. I have a medium, thick beard, and a scar that goes from my lower, right part of my lip, to the superior, but it's small. My cheekbones can be seen now, and my hair is short and brushed up. It has changed, as its darker now, with black roots.

"I look…" I say to myself, and admire my adult voice.

Everything looks as I have always imagined.

"Like a warrior, a hand-some warrior" She replies.

I turn my back to her, and she's wearing a beautiful, long black-red dress.

She approaches me, and kisses me in the lips. It's weird, but she has a "taste". I love it.

The kiss ends, and our bodies separate.

"Finn, I…" She says.

She looks down for a moment, then looks up once more.

"Finn, I lov" Somehow, shes interrupted by the sound of a cannon blast.

We both look to the window, and a cannonball comes right through the window. It hits me.

I wake up.

"Captain, we´re under attack" Some lad screams.

_Just a dream._

I get up and run to my closet once more, not looking for rum this time, but for my captain uniform

It's a long tunic, with a hood, which colours are white, with black stripes and some red. I put it on, then my belt, then my gun holsters, then my boots, the hidden blade in my right and the hidden gun in the other one. The knifes go on the little pockets of the belt.

I leave the room running, and admire the massacre. Our boat surrounded by two vessels by our sides, and a dreadnought that lies right in front of us.

"Captain, come here" Rus screams, from the quarter deck.

I run to him, and move him aside.

"Thanks, Rus" I start to captain this boat.

"Captain" He says

"Yes, Rus?"

"Feel no fear, as Rok and Thors are coming to our aid" He tells me

I just smile.

"Why would I? For some reason they call me _Boreas. _I´m the ruler of the frozen seas."


	3. Chapter 2

**Author´s Note: **

**So, as some of you may have realized, it takes me just way too long to upload. One of the many reasons, including school, is that I try to make every chapter longer than the prologue (Which has a length of 2,848 words). So I´ll try to upload a chapter every Saturday. Now, which accent do you think it would be perfect for Finn? Scottish? Welsh? Swede? Russian? Comment your opinion. And if you have any question, which won´t be answered in the story, type it up in the comment section. I would gladly reply.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2: No place for Cowards**

"Lift those damn cannons, and put them in 120 degrees position!"

"Aye, Captain!"

"Fire to my signal!"

The vessels were covering our sides, no place to turn back. Our ram won't be able to hit them, and the dreadnought can easily take it shares of beatings. It can easily penetrate ice thicker than two planks of wood, but it would do no harm to a metal covered bastard of a ship.

"Captain, the cannons are in position" Rus tells me the news, as I hold tight the helm which controls Ragnar.

But I can´t control him, he´s thirsty for blood today.

"Get ready!" I announce to the gunners under the feet of the crewmen in the deck.

Such a beautiful day, such a cold day. Crystal water, with a thin layer of ice over it. Floating. The sky is so clear, with very few clouds. Something you could expect of the northern sea´s.

_My Sea´s_

I look one last time to my right and left, as I must not lose sight of the dreadnought. I see the captain of the vessel to my right in the main deck, the other one hiding in the captain´s room. Gunners of both sides are charging their cannons.

"Reload!" Both sides scream

_Take a deep breath_

It smells like salt, and gun powder. It will smell like blood tomorrow.

"Fire!" Here´s your signal, make me proud.

As fast as the powder caught fire, the cannonballs were expulsed with astonishing speed. I saw them cracking, mashing, and drilling the wood as if they were salt crackers. Lots of men were hit, and as many bones were broken. All the men were battling with such courage, such heart. My crew.

"Aye, Aye my Captain!"

They may not be scholars.

"Fire my fellow men!" The lads were screaming with rage and courage.

They may not be fluent in many languages.

"Captain Finn, the vessels present holes and major shell damage"

They may not share a nation, a birthplace.

"Fire once more, my men. We´ll sink these motherfuckers!"

But they are fast

"Captain, they´re trying to retreat!"

They are brave

"Take no prisoners! Remember Lads, it´s to kill or be killed!"

And they are Loyal.

"All right Lads, fire once more. Those to the left, fire to the Captain´s room, those to the right, fire to the gunpowder storage!"

I bet my life on it.

"Die you bastards!"

The sound of cannons was tremendous, like the roar of a thousand tandem elephants. The sound only a beast made of Steel and Wood could ever roar. Then, the sound of gunpowder blowing up, and of a tiny wood room being massacred. Accompanied by the sound of smashed bones and muffled cries for help.

"All right men, take these ships. Leave them with nothing, and murder all those who oppose our flag!" The signal for our crew to raid the vessels, just one can be saved, the other one, will sacrifice its wood for the health of Ragnar.

"Captain, what about the dreadnought" Rus asks me, while commanding the men who raid the boats.

"We only need 3 things for it, Rus: You, Me and Ragnar."

"Are you sure?"

"What kind of a captain would I be if I can't trust my quarter master and my own barque?"

It surprises me how weak those vessels were. Only two reasons can explain it: Either the captain underestimated us, or his support fleet was destroyed. The answer does not matter, at least for now, as those vessels are now mine.

"Full speed comrades, let´s add that dreadnought to our fleet!"

You could say we have gone full insane. Full retard.

_How can a wood and steel ship, which length is around 70 meters, sink a coal powered metal beast with a length of 180 meters?_

Easy, you build your boat with a wood thicker than a two walls of brick and harder than concrete and bones, and you cover it with the most malleable and toughest metal of them all. Stronger than the sea itself, Ragnar will kneel to no other ship. I would burn it first.

"Captain, we´re only 100 meters close to the Dradnought." Rus tell me the news.

He was right. We were fairly close now to the dreadnought, close enough to take a good glance at their flag.

"Lionhearts" My whisper is quickly muted by an exploding vessel, yet Rus was able to hear me.

I look behind me, and I see the crew in the destroyed vessel quickly gathering all they could. We north men have a talent for pillaging. The good vessel was hooking the destroyed vessel, and the crewmen quickly saved all they could.

"Aye, Captain. The fleet that has tried to hunt us down." With a tone of nostalgia, Rus remembers me something really obvious.

"I never seen a Lion eat a Bear before, and I´m sure as hell I won't see it now" I never forget my enemies.

"Loose trim and catch the north wind!" I signal the few men on the deck to help us speed up.

The Ram won´t destroy the dreadnought, but it will make a hole in it. All we need.

"One…" Countdown for the party

"Two…" Men from the dreadnought started to shoot at us.

"And…" All the cannons were ready.

_Three_

"Open the gates of Hell and fire!" Signal to cut hell loose.

We took our position, and Ragnar looked small for the first time since it was build. Yet, it size was never equal to its fire power.

"They are shooting back captain!" Rus tells me, while the boat was shaking, as their cannonballs were hitting Ragnar´s shields.

But it was only that, shaking. I held tight to the helm, and saw Rus holding onto the border of the ship.

"Oi, Lads, lower the speed!" I had to scream as hard as I could, as cannonballs explosions were muting any sound coming from both ships.

The speed was lowered, and I steered a little bit to the left, as getting to proper bombarding position was key to this ship´s battle.

"Captain, we´re in proper position now!" Crewmen screaming the good news.

"Fire the mortars!" One last task to my crew, before boarding the dreadnought.

Fireworks were leaving my boat, and I saw our powerful phoenix mortars crush the little few pieces left floating on top of the cold, crystal, and icy water. Fire falling from the sky, crushing the home of privateers just like us.

_We are the Hunters_

Men were getting anxious, Ragnar too, as it was becoming difficult to hold the helm. Their blood was in fire, as we have never take a prize as big as a Dreadnought. My blood is also in fire. Is to steal, or to be the one getting stolen. The Lionheart fleet won´t be destroyed by a single dreadnought being stole, but be sure, as I´m that I will take that vessel to myself, that they will cry for it. I will make sure of that.

_The Rest are Prey_

"Board this beast, Lads. He who wants to Captain this metal abomination, must bring me the captain's heart or head. Let´s hunt, Lads" With a tone that could only belong to a thirty for blood beast, I tell my privateers their goal.

In the sea´s, you must never stay as a simple, low, short time pirate. You have to go up, level up. And you must earn it. I know that there are capable men, and women, in my crew that could easily captain a vessel. But they must prove themselves worth of the vessel.

"Are you ready Rus?" I ask Rus, with a mischievous smile and a mocking tone.

"Already ahead of you Captain" I turn back, and see nothing. Then I turn front, and see Rus hiking it´s way to the main deck of the dreadnought.

"Alright" I turn to the lads in front of me, and walk to the front deck.

"Let´s race for that Boat Lads!" The scream of battle.

With all the power I had in my legs, and spirit, I rushed to the side of the cold, hard and dead dreadnought. Fellow crewmen and Captain Aspirants rushed with me, the idiot ones quickly fell into the water. Now we now who is crew, and who is captain. With little to no effort, I was able to jump into the main deck. Instead of directly fight the crewmen and soldiers, which were having the time of their life fighting my mates, I decided to one of its chimneys.

It wasn´t a long climb, but it was messy, as it was hard to grasp to any metal dent, because it was covered in ashes and oil. The sweat of a metal beast. The desire of fighting cause the climbing to be tortuous, as I heard my fellow crewmen slay the filthy lake privateers that make up this half-assed crew. The sound of clashing swords, screams, fists and broken bones, were calling me to battle. But I had to find something, someone.

When I finally rose to the top, first thing on my agenda was to look at the smoke. It was pointing to the south west, that´s where the winds are coming from. Next, I had to find the prey, the leader of this monster. What I saw at the top of the chimney, was something to scare death itself. Men massacring other men, some ripping hearts out, sometimes were eyes, other times were limbs being ripped off. The lucky ones jumped into the water and were quickly eaten by a sea-jaguar. There was blood in the water, and in the deck. I looked at my own vest, and saw little drops of blood. But it wasn't my blood.

_He must be close_

Like a beast instinct, I felt something approaching me. Something small and deadly. I quickly jumped off the chimney, and fell over one of the enemies. After having a successful landing, and shooting the lad in the head with one of my pistols, I looked over my shoulder, and saw him, on top of the mastiff which hanged the Lion flag.

"You fucking coward, come and fight me like a man! Like a true privateer!" With my head up, I looked at him in the eye, and screamed at him.

He was wearing a long and black raincoat. It wasn´t buttoned up, and underneath it had a white shirt, with a long, red tie. Black trousers and a red shark skin belt, boots and a top hat. His skin was white, like if he was dead. Black filling in his eyes, and red iris´s. He wore a red cross stitched to the back of his coat. He had white gloves, and used a silver dagger with his left hand.

_Russell Jackdaw_

Best bounty hunter in the 5 seas, never missed a kill. And I know who he´s after. The finger running across his neck tells me his target. One must feel proud when Jackdaw comes after you, because is the signal that you´re a true pirate. Someone wanted, in the bad way.

_Breath. Think. Run. Kill._

Once more, I head up to the mastiff located in the middle of the boat. With speed, I climbed my way to the mastiff in which he was standing. He was prepared, as he started shooting with one of the hidden guns in his raincoat. Last time he tried that, he was able to shoot me in the thorax. Not now, not anymore.

I was now on top of the last chimney in front of the mastiff, and saw him really close. Close enough to shoot the bastard in the face. But both of us know that I won't shoot him, and he won't shoot me either. It would be too easy, and easy is for Cowards. The sea is not a place for Cowards.

"Liam Cormac. Captain of the Ragnar, leader of the Norse men. He who raises the white bear flag. Boreas. Are you ready?" Jackdaw gave him classic before killing speech.

Without any effort at all, he jumped backwards and walked to the stern deck of the dreadnought. This was a fight for our lives, which would be fought with our own hands.

I jumped off the chimney and slowly walked to the stern. Through my journey, I shot, stabbed and killed as many as I could. Leaving the famous bloody trail of my fleet. When I finally arrived to the stern, I saw piles of corpses everywhere. And I saw him in the center, surrounded by enemy fleet. Walking through the stern, I approached him, and my fleet quickly approached me, creating a barrier of people behind me. To protect me.

"I´m ready Jackdaw, let´s finish this." Here´s your answer, Jackdaw.

"Drop everything" He replies.

I removed my coat, my shirt, boots, and gloves, basically everything but my necklace and cargo pants. And he did the same, leaving everything in the floor but his gloves and Dagger.

"We have more similarities, than differences. Don´t we Cormac?"

He´s right. We´re both murderers, we´re wanted by any legal government, and have supported anarchist leaders. We have stolen people their own lives, for nothing. Both of us have scars in our pectorals and abdominals. He has an X, starting from both shoulders, and finishing at the beginning of his hips. I have my slanted scar. Both of us crack our knuckles, creating a sound of what is going to come.

"Ready?" He asks

"Yes. You?" I reply

"Yes" He replies

"Let´s begin" I say

"Ok" He replies.

The fight begins, and both of us ram into each other, sending fast, blind fists at each other. I´m able to dodge this first fist, and connect the fist at his left cheek. Yet, he takes my hand, and drags me to himself, and head-butts me right in the nose, and the knee kicks me in the ribs. I fall to the floor and he kicks me, but I rise and head-butt him right in the jaw, and send him to the floor. He rises up, and sharps his dagger while spitting blood. I clean my bleeding nose.

I take off my necklace, and with just a click, I turn it into the small hidden dagger it is. We start to walk in circles, watching our eyes, trying to predict the next movement. I decide to start and run into him. He sends a left jab with his dagger, but I dodge it, and stab him in the lung. He kneels down, and I use that opportunity to jump on top of him and choke him. He struggles to free himself from me, but he stands up and throws me into the air.

When I fall, and hear some ribs crack, I realize that this won´t last long. Next 5 or 7 movements will decide who will be killed, and who will kill.

_First_

I head up to him, and kick him in the face, but he dodged it, and lifted me, and threw me again into the hard, cold metal ground that lay under our feet.

_Second_

He lifts me over his head, ready to let me fall into his rising knee. But I free myself, and elbow kicks him in the eye, causing him to bleed.

_Three_

"Fuck this" I say with anger

He is angry too, and decides to approach me this me. Blinded by rage, coated with the feeling of invisibility raging idiots have. I must be an idiot too, as I´m as angry, and feel as invincible. We attack each other, sending blind jabs with sharp ends to each other neck´s. Nothing happen, until he connects. A hole in my left tight.

_Four_

He then kicks me in the left tight, making me lose my balance. Rage accumulates in my mind, blinding from everything, even what makes me human. He kneels and starts to punch me in the face.

_Five_

But I´m able to insert my thumbs into both of his eyes, and we roll. Now I´m on top.

_Six_

I send a hammer punch to his nose, and break it

_Seven_

One more, but this time to his jaw

_Eight_

Another one, this one breaks his cheek bone

_Nine_

I know break his forehead bones

_Ten_

I´m starting to loose count, as my punches start to get coated with this bastard's blood and little skull pieces fly all over the place.

_Eleven, Twelve, Fifteen, Twenty-Seven, Seventy-Nine, etc…_

It doesn´t matter anymore, I´m concentrated in punching the hell of his skull. I already ripped out his eyes, nose and ears and blew his teeth with my fists. Then something cracks.

"You son of a bitch!" I scream in pain with rage, as my left fist is now broken.

I prepare once more to punch the bloody brain, skull and tissue pulp that was once Jackdaw´s skull, but someone touches my shoulder. I look at that person.

"Captain, he´s dead" Looking me dead in the eye, I see Rus covered in blood, with the heart of someone in his left hand.

I stand up, and take a glance at the monstrosity of a murder I just committed. His head smashed, bruises all over it, his neck looks now like…I honestly don´t know. What was once a human looking body is now just a…corpse?

"So you did it, Rus." Seeing that heart in his hand, I know to whom it once belonged.

"I did, Captain Finn" He replies

"Captain Finn? Since when did you call me by my name?" Simple question

He just nods, and lowers his head. Then, he takes my hand, opens it and put the heart in it.

"You´ll have to look for another quarter master, Captain Finn" With sorrow in his voice, he tells me the news.

"Aye, Captain Rus" With sadness in mine, I reply.

"It was fun, I learned a lot from you" He extends his hand for a handshake

"Aye, but it´s time for you to learn on your own." And extend mine too, and grab his hand.

Our handshake is not long. And I turn to my crew behind me.

"A´right Lads, now, the ones that want to stay in Ragnar under my command go to the right.!" Those who stay, to the right.

The mass of people started to divide, and lots of men went to the right

"Oi! Now, those who want to stay here with Rus and be under his command, go to the left!" Those who leave, to the left.

I counted the total. If my mind serves me well, the whole crew Ragnar holds is 80 people. A total of 50 went to raid the vessels. 30 stay.

"Rus, how many are now under your command?" I ask Rus, not because I don´t know, but because I don´t know if he knows.

"Nineteen men, total." He answers with confidence and pride.

"Twenty, if you count the Captain" With my words, I see him smile.

"All right my men, let´s go back to Ragnar" We star to leave, and some start to jump already to Ragnar´s main deck.

"Wait, Captain Finn" Rus stops me right at the verge of the boat.

"What?" I ask

"Her name. What´s her name?" He asks with a drop of curiosity in his tone

I start to think. We have never had a dreadnought before, and in this moment this is the largest ship we own.

"So?" He asks again

I smile a little grin for him, then, I go back to the fight zone, and dress up. When I´m done with my uniform, I past in front of him and jump to ragnar. When I fall, I decide to go to the captain´s room, and open a little chest filled with pride.

When I go out, I go to the right of the Helm Deck, and throw Rus our pride.

_The White Bear Flag_

Rus quickly catches it, and opens it. He probably has never seen our flag so close, and he´s so happy that he starts to shed some small tears. I take the helm, and start to move Ragnar to the left, looking for our other new vessel. I see Rus looking at me, so I decide to answer his question.

"Her name is Yavanna."

"That´s a good name" He whispers back something I was not able to hear, but I could read his lips.

"All right boys, full speed and let´s get back to position" My order to the Lads who still belong to the Ragnar.

We arrived the War Zone, and see to my left a sinking ship, and to my right, a new vessel that belongs now to the fleet. I repeat the process and send a flag to the vessel. He´s a good barque, almost as big as Ragnar. 3 mastiffs and a total length of 61 meters. Good start for a new Captain.

"Who´s the Captain of this vessel?!" I scream to the crew of our new friend.

The new Captain came out of the captain's room, all dress up with military clothes and a top hat. He walks to the verge, to speak to me. While he was doing that, Lads from both sides started to climb back to Ragnar. Now we´re only 46 in Ragnar.

"I am, Captain Finn" With strength and pride in his voice, I hear our second in command, Lucius Krell.

Krell comes from the 4th continent, he´s taller than me and even Rus. But he´s thin, and strong, but not as much as the other captains are. He has long white hair, a really pale skin, like porcelain, and green cat eyes.

"Alright, he belongs to you now now. Be a good Captain"

"What´s he´s name?" He asks the same question.

A tradition and duty of privateers, is that the Captain of the whole fleet must name every single vessel. And I have the right name for this one.

"Häya. That´s his name, Krell."

"Captain, were do we go now?" Krell asks.

I saw Rus quickly following us, he was behind us now.

"All right. Oi, Lads, maximum speed! We´re heading to the Kingdom Continent!


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: New Friends, New Stories.**

"…so while we were interrogating him, he suddenly stops talking. He wasn´t making a noise at all, so, so I say: Did the cat eat your tongue?"

We all explode in laughs when he finishes his little story, as some are just too drunk to realize that is a bad joke, and others were just tired and wanted to laugh for a while. It has been a long season.

"Oh, man. If I wasn´t Captain of Carrie, I would ask you to be my quarter master myself" She finished her sentence by drinking the whole glass of beer at once, and sat closer to him.

"Okay...Like I was saying, we finally got the information we wanted, with some complications in between of course, but we were able to leave peacefully and now I´m here. Ready to finally hand over what I was tasked to find, and take." While he finished his sentence, she decided to snug of his arm while closing her eyes.

"You are so soft and squishy! I don´t care, you´re my quarter master now." She said snugging him even harder than before, while caressing the fur coating his arm.

"! For the love of everything good! I can´t be a quarter master no more, I´m the Captain of Ferruginous. Have you forgotten that, Felicia?!" He said with a tone of anger, as winning the true status of Captain is the last quest for any of us as a mere privateer.

"Don´t be so harsh on ´im, boy´s know this season hasn´t been good to ´im. Leave him alone" Rus decides to touch the matter, as he decides to protect the pride of his feline buddy.

"I decide what I do, not you Rus. And what are you doing sitting here?! This is the table for captains!" She broke the hug and decided to scold Rus.

"Enough! We´ve gathered to enjoy ourselves. To taste, and enjoy a drink. To share and tell tales. We´re not here to build distrust and anger to fellow Captains. Are we?" The oldest of all the captains, great man who sat the left of Rus, decided to speak.

"Now, you two spoiled brats" He said while pointing with two fingers "Apologize, and congratulate Rus. He´s a fellow Captain now and he hold the chains of nothing less but a full metal Dreadnought."

"A Dreadnought, that´s great Rus!" Felicia jumped out of her seat, landed on the table and kissed Rus on the cheek. Then she turned to me, and softly kissed me in the nose.

I smiled.

"Congratulations, little Edward here finally got tired of being Quarter master of Cormac, and decided to take a ship" She said while rolling over the table, finally falling off the edge.

We all laughed once more; because we knew drink had turned her into dumb once again, as always. She looks at me with furious eyes while getting off the floor. Then, she approached me and pulled me from my tie.

"That hurt, and you al, laughed. If you keep laughing, I will tell my girls to punish you all. I will laugh last, promise." She spoke with a hostility and childless, classical of her.

I could easily smell her, as our faces were really close. I was still sitting, but she was standing. She was looking down to me. She let me go, and walked back to her seat. Her face was pouting while she sat, resting the chair with her hands with crossed arms.

"Don´t put so many attention to her, she´s just the spoiled brat of a rich merchant." Another fellow captain, sitting to her left, talked.

"No, I´m not!" She replied like an angry child.

"Don´t lie, how else could you be so pretty? Unless you were royalty, and I doubt that" He answered while looking at her with an irritated tone.

_Something is missing_

While they were arguing who was truly right, I decided to get up and look for Krell. He´s a Captain now, so he has earned the empty 8th chair of the rounded table in which we were sitting.

It is our own little tradition, but every year after hunting season, we captains gather on a little pub, built right in front of the port, which let us see our vessels while we eat and, specially, drink. This pub is not the newest, the biggest or the finest. It´s just like us, and that´s why we choose it every year after year. We always sit in the same table, a rounded wood table located in the middle of the room, in front of the bar and just under the chandelier. Behind it, there are two sofas and a book shelf behind it. Tables fill the rest of this old place.

I walked through the crowd, and realized how many people attended this little bar, which we own, every goddamn night. A beautiful piano was giving us a hopeful serenade, along a violin, both being played by two gorgeous ladies on the second floor of this place.

While I was approaching the bar, I saw Krell, who was looking melancholic, at the left end of the bar.

"What will you have tonight, Captain Finn?" The Bartender, young lad named Irus, ask me when I finally arrive and sit. I put my arms on the counter, and order without losing sight of Krell.

"Give me please a glass of Wyvern Blood, without ice." I was thirsty for a strong drink.

"And what it will be for Captain Krell, Captain Finn?" Irus was cleaning a glass, but rolled his eyes to the left. He knew about my concern about him.

I took a quick glance at him, and saw him standing, while resting his arms on the counter, with blank eyes. Just breathing, slowly, and steady.

"Give him a cup of hot chocolate. This night is cold as hel, it will start him up" My answer awakes two smiles, one mine and one of Irus.

"In a moment, my Captain" He laid down the glass, and retired to the door, which connected to the kitchen, to our right.

While waiting, I started to breathe slower, and think a little bit of the future. I had no plans at the moment.

_We´re just fifteen hours away from Victoria´s Lair_

Victoria´s Lair, known by outsiders as Queen´s city, is this city they formed around two years ago. All kingdoms, especially the Candy Kingdom, sent funds to build a new city from scratch. A place were citizens of the Kingdom Continent, and citizens belonging to the other four, could gather. It´s a coast city and it has the biggest port in the entire continent.

_What will I do?_

"Heavy night, isn´t it?" Krell approached me, sat to my side and spoke.

"It is" I answer, and then the rounded table explodes once more in drunken laughs.

Irus came out the door in that moment, delivering the promised drinks.

"Gentleman, your beverages are now served"

"Don´t you say, Irus. I thought that you had brought us another person´s drink" With a smirk in my face, I taunt the boy while reaching for my drink. Krell laughs, and decides to take the first sip of his hot drink.

"Oh, boys, those are other person drink" A bearded, giant man takes my shot from my hand, and another one, bald with tribal tattoos and as big, takes Krell drink.

"Em, gentlemen…" With fear, Irus spoke to those men.

"What do you want your little coward? If you want to talk to us, come out of your little fortress." The bald decides to speak this time, while taking a sip of Krell´s chocolate.

Krell decided to stand up to the guy, and proved that he was taller than those two men. But his thin figure didn´t helped at all, his delicate skin, long and blonde hair, and his young face were factors that helped.

"Krell, don´t." Knowing what he´s capable of, I had to boss him.

"Captain, these men…" He answered me with anger, and a provoked expression painted his face.

"Don´t" I say once more.

"All right, captain" He sat down, and tried to ignore the men.

I decided to look at the one face of the menu, deciding what I should order next.

"Irus, please bring me a Steak, medium, with a smoked potato filled with beans and coleslaw, and bring me the strongest mead you have. Full, tall glass, please." I laid down the menu when I finished, and Irus took it.

"Young Irus, please bring me a smoked bear filet, with a glass of red cherry wine, and some grapes. If it isn´t a burden, of course." Krell did the same, and smiled when he gave Irus the menu.

"It won't, Captain Krell. I´ll be back in ten minutes with your meal, gentleman" Irus finally left the counter, and I could still hear the gulps of those two men.

Two men, drinking our beverages. Ours.

_Mine._

Krell and I turn to our sides, looked at each other face and nodded.

"Ahh, that was a good drink!" The bald one talked and decide to throw the cup to the ground. Pieces flied everywhere, and one cut one of the ladies feet.

One under Felicia command.

"You two ladies have a good taste. Kind of curious that little pussy boy called you captain, you´re too delicate to be captains of any fleet" The giant bearded, drunken man spoke.

"I hope our meal is as good as those drinks! We must eat, and lemme tell you something pussy boys" The bald one approached us, and sat in one of the chairs. The bearded one followed.

They smelled terrible, like rotten fish and bad tatertops. That´s probably the only thing they have eaten while they were at sea. Krell and I were still glued to our sits, looking down at the counter, waiting for our meals. We were hungry, so hungry, our stomachs decide to roar.

"Hahahaha! Who would say such delicate ladies would have such appetite?!" The two men looked at each other, and laughed at the bearded man joke.

I looked at Krell´s eye, and he smiled.

"Huh? What´s so funny thin legs?" The bald one, the one which was besides Krell, decided to ask with rage in his tone.

"Now?" Krell asked me.

"Now what, Pussy boys? Yarr gonna leave. Did we hurt you too much in your Feelings? Buncha faggots" The bearded man asked this time.

"Yeah, now" I answered.

We elbow-jab those bastards in the jaw at the same time. They fell to the floor, and I decided to kick him in the ribs until one cracked. Krell, as a man of style, decide to take the guy and stab his hand in the counter.

"All right, if you two, incest idiots, haven´t realized yet I´m Liam Cormac"

"And I´m Lucius Krell IV"

"L-Liam Co-Cormac... and Lu-Lucius K-Krell?" The bearded one stared at us, while the bald one passed out. I guess that blood loss and drinking liquor and chocolate can knock you out.

"Captain of the Ragnar" I answer

"Captain of the Häya" He asnwers.

The bearded one kneeled, and was going to kiss our feet. Luckily, Krell kicked him once more in the face.

"Just fuck off and leave the Pub" I told him.

The guy got up and quickly ran to the door, he then left the pub.

"All right gentleman, medium rare stake with a stuffed potato and a full, tall glass of mead. And a bear fillet with red cherry wine and a plate of grapes" Irus came out of the door once more, and laid down our meal. He didn´t put any attention to the bleeding guy on the counter, as he was now used to that.

"Thanks, Irus" I, gratefully, tell him.

"It´s nothing, Captain Finn, it´s always a pleasure to attend you" He replies with a smile of his face, and turns to clean the bottle shelf.

Finally, Krell and I sat down and happily ate our meals. My steak was cooked perfectly, as least for me. It had a good amount of salt, pepper and spices. The potato was as good, maybe better. The Mead was strong, refreshing and sweet. Krell´s meal looked as good as mine, as he was enjoying as much his meal as I did. You could tell by his face,

"Man, I´m full" Krell said with a happy face, eating the last of the grapes.

"Great meal, Irus. Thank you." I got up of my chair, and left a little sachet full of gold coins as tip.

"Oh, and before I leave for the table, where do those ladies come from?" I asked Irus, while pointing to the musician ladies on the second floor.

"The piano lady name is Vanna, the violin one is Tyvis. Why do you ask?" Irus replied while he was cleaning the blood off the counter

"Just gonna ask them to join Nana´s fleet. That´s all" I reply while turning my back to him.

Krell quickly followed, and we approached the Captain´s table together for the first as Captains. We´re not mere privateers of a simple boat. We´re captains of strong vessels, which belong to the fleet that rules the north.

"Oi, look out for Captain Cormac and Captain Krell." Rus speaks of our arrival to the table.

I sat in the same seat, which is in the one facing the bar and turning back to the bookshelf. To my left, there´s Rus, captain of the Dreadnought known as Yavanna.

To my right, Nagron, captain of Thors. Nagron comes from the 3rd continent, known as the republic continent. He was a gladiator who obtained his freedom, then he escaped to the sea´s, in which Liam Cormac the IV found him. He captains the Ship of War which length is almost 180 meters. Nagron is around 1, 90 meters, and he has a lot of muscle mass. He´s around 40 years. He wears a military republic uniform, and has gloves covered with a cestus. He has a brown skin, dark brown hair, pointy ears, thin lips, big, arched nose, hairy eyebrows, long beard and hair. His fleet is mainly composed by war prisoners and political exiled people. All of them are men.

To Rus´s left, we have Jo, captain of Rok. Jo comes from the 2nd continent, known as Vik continent. It´s located to the south poles, in one of the coldest part of this planet. Jo was once a war general, but he got bored of land. He stole a man of War ship, with a length of 60 meters, and decided to follow a man who he honoured, Jonathan Davis. Jo´s age is around 50 to 60 years, and has medium build and is 1, 78 meters. He wears pelts and ragged pants, with an improvised hood. He has tribal tattoos all around his white skin. His fleet is composed mainly by Vik men, but there is also a good quantity of women.

Then, to Jo´s left there´s Krell, captain of Häya.

Nana was sitting by Nagron´s right, and she had been quiet all night. A lady that comes from a little settlement of the Republic at the Vik continent. Daughter of a Republic commander and a Vik warrior. She´s a red headed, hot headed woman of 1, 87 meters. Her real name is Anne Lothbrok. She´s tall, and wears a uniform which looks like a mix of Jo´s and Nagron´s uniform. Her eyes are red, as she´s the daughter of a demon and a necromancer. Her fleet is composed by demon women and were-wolves. She captains the Bonnie, a 70 meters galley.

To her right, we have the were-tiger known as Axwell, who captains the Ferruginous. He comes from the 5th continent, known as Animalia. This continent´s population is composed by very advanced tribes, which are formed by people who can be the mix of human like forms and animals, or just the mix of two animals. Axwell wears glasses, and has a lot of muscle, but less than Nagron, and wears a long tunic, with a uniform of a navy captain. And, like Felicia said, he has a lot of fur. A lot. Feurriginous is a 170 meters full rigged ship.

Finally, right in front of me, we have the lady which is now winking at me while caressing her hair. Felicia, daughter of a Jarl of the 2nd continent. Short blonde-white hair, green eyes, rounded face, hourglass body, 1,69 meters, soft skin, etc. Kind of a "perfect woman", which kind of looks like if you mixed Bonnibel and Marceline faces. She captains the Carrie, an only woman frigate of 65 meters. The meanest and most beautiful privateers of the 6 seas.

"My fellow Captains, report" When I said that, they stopped doing anything else, and sat properly, except for Krell and Axwell, as they are two full blooded gentlemen.

"All right, we have raided a total of 24 villages this year, and our net worth is around 42 tons of gold. We own now a total of 77 boats, with 8 main vessels, controlled by a boss vessel.""Axwell spoke first, he manages the money.

"New recruits are now commanding and establishing new camps, their progress is good. I´ve trained them" Jo, our trainer, is the second one. He controls the recruits.

"Lots of gun powder, lots of guns. We are now the biggest fleet in terms of fire power. We could powder the walls of the republic itself." Nana´s next, our explosive girl.

"All the meat that could have possibly been gathered, it´s now on our cargo ships. We will obtain around 9-17 tons of gold for the meat and skin." Rus next, our expert in whaling.

"Our isle home, Kaizer, is perfect. We have now established a working society on the isle, in which there have been democratic elections past winter. But, as we know, you still control the isle. You own it." Nagron keeps eye on the colonies.

"All of the ships are now in perfect state, and have been improved with the latest phoenix mortars, Odin´s cannons, new, thicker shells and new sails." Krell keeps eye on the main vessels state.

"We still have government support from new, uprising democratic governments in all continents. And our bounty in all continents has been paid, and taxes." Felicia, smart girl, keeps our politic affairs in balance.

"Everything seems all right then" I said while taking the glass of beer.

"Let´s have a toast my friends, as we tomorrow visit Rus´s and I homeland. For progress, future, love and health. Cheers!" I stand up and raised my glass.

"Cheers!" They rised too and we all had a good time the rest of the night.

Then, it was morning.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author´s Note: This chapter is longer, mainly because it took me twice the time to wrote as a normal chapter. Well, if you like it, review it, favorite it or at least read it once more. Or share it, that would help. If you have any concern, question, or idea, send me a review. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Outsider**

The wind was cold, yet the sun was all bright and mighty. Beautiful morning to come back home. I felt how the wind moved individually my locks of hair, proving that it was just too long. I held the helm with strength, but I wasn´t moving it to either direction, as we were already in path. The boys, some were still sleeping, some were playing cards, fist fights, or just drinking at 11:00 am.

"Aye, Captain Finn, we´re only minutes away from port" Rus, who was captaining new and reformed Yavanna, was by the side of Ragnar with some meters to spare.

Without looking at him, I listened to the message. Held even tighter the helm, as I saw the shores of the south-west part of the continent.

"My men, lower the speed, as we´re not far" My tone was low, as getting nervous was law for me and Rus.

The sky was clean, and no clouds, excepting two or three, dared to show up. As blue as the waters we were sailing on top, as blue as my eyes, as blue as our flag. You could see some birds flying by the side of my barque mastiffs. As usual, there were seagulls, pigeons; some message hawks the Royal marine uses. Nothing special.

They opened their wings with all their might, as we recurred these seas, the only land to which we belong, around the mastiffs. There were some rocks, some islands, and some diving points signalled by the fallen mastiffs that still show their top over the calm water. Ragnar calmly continued its course, as it slowly followed the shores in front of us, going to our left.

The Lads quickly got bored of anything they were doing, some just woke up and walked to the main deck, and decided to join together and star to sing a shanty. The melody was nice, but their rough, cracking voices made it unpleasant at some points. I wasn´t paying attention anyway, as it was Rus, who was still driving smoothly Yavanna to our right, and I the job to be looking out for any Navy or Bounty hunter ships roaming this waters.

"Oi, Captain, land a´sight!" A young lad, in front of the ship screamed about what his eyes were showing him.

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly took a step back, leaving the helm loose. Ragnar shake, making some of the lads fall, others, laugh about how retarded were those in the floor. Quickly, I took once more Ragnars reins, and quickly put it back to position once more. Some crewmen decided to look to the deck I was, their eyes asking a question, some used their mouth.

"Captain, the hell is wrong with ya´" A lad, still hangover because of last night pub´s visits, asked something I could not answer.

Silently, all of the crew went back to position, and, luckily, Rus did not notice, as captaining a Dreadnought requires all of a man´s attention.

_Just like a lady_

As Ragnar sailed through the water, I quickly took out from my inner pocket the pocket watch, which was waiting for me this morning inside that chest besides my bed. It read 11:09, which meant that the port would still be free to receive heavy cargo ships such as Yavanna, and military-expedition vessels in which Ragnar and Yavanna fell in. Tax free. After recovering my sense of time, that I lost because of past days insomnia, I saw how the port was easy to be seen by anyone who roamed the seas at this time.

Remembering well the map of the Kingdom continent, the port was located to the south west, really far from the south of the Mountain Kingdom, to the left of the fire kingdom. Every time I come to this port, even though I always stay for just one noon, it amazes me how the Queens turned the "Lost Cliffs" into the main port of a continent. It just proves, how a group of young princesses, turned ladies, became great leaders.

_Yeah, they´re the best._

Victoria´s Lair, first time I will actually stay in it, a thought that makes me shiver. We were approaching the humongous port, and I decided to appreciate the form of the city. A modern city, full of merchants, privateers, marines and captains, rose over the ground. We were approaching it from the north east of the city, and we could see from our left how the beach curved inside, showing how it ended in an inverted v, to show another curved beach be born. Few isles, which belong to the city, were seen to our right.

Is known in the seas that Classism is a problem that hasn´t been solved in Victoria´s Lair, as those little Isles are settlements of different social-economic status. Three isles can be seen to our right. The first one we see is Alexander´s Town, named in honour of Sir Alexander of the Vik lands. It homes the richest people in the city, and it´s a walled city, hiding little citadels deep within.

Next, the biggest isle known as Elizabeth´s Lair. It´s a fairly normal place, as it hosts people from all places and economic or social status. There´s peace, but it has it certain amount of problems. Then, we have Shay´s landing. The smallest of the little isles, is a prison isle, in which the worst pirates, thieves, assassins are kept. Named in honour of my tutors granddad, Shay Ethan the Rogue. First captain of the Ragnar.

Ragnar continues his path through this water, and I calmly move the helm to our left, to finally stop at our destination. The port is amazing. Water as clear as the sky, a modern, yet classical city in front of us, and people from the 5 continents. A place that was built from scratch that has grown in this three years, and everything under this new place, it´s forgotten history.

"So this is what I have missed" I whisper to myself as I slowly leave Ragnar in the port. The port length is almost immeasurable for the common eye, but not for a privateer. You leave your ship to the right of the wooden deck, tie it up so it doesn´t run away, leave it, and explore the city. That´s mostly what you can do here, if you´re not a merchant or royalty of course.

After walking some rough 20 meters of wooden deck, I stand over a street made of bone colour concrete, with gray, white or black stones inside it, giving it a mountain like texture. I look behind me, and see Rus having trouble to bring the massive Yavanna to the port. With a mischievous smile, I turn back to the port, to admire the frontal face of the city.

Houses, storages, apartments, restaurants, pubs, shops, and privateers gathering points. If it´s profitable, it will be built in this city. I quickly look to my right and left, and realized there´s roughly 5 to 8 kilometers distance between each part. 16 kilometers in total of the main face of the city. How can I know this? Easy, I left Ragnar in the middle of the port.

I walked a bit through this street, in which there was a fair amount of people in it, with stands, outside movies, games and everything. Is an eternal carnival in this city, no wonder those girls love it so much. I walk through the crowd, and put on my hood.

_I need to get something more decent_

This whole clothing set that I wear every day, it has around twenty years. Better get something of quality, if not, I´ll alert the navy, and they´ll realize that Cormac is now in their city. I´ve already seen some wanted poster walls, in which, logically, the poster with my name it´s one with the biggest bounties.

As I start to move between the crowds, seeing people from the kingdoms in a long time, seeing how everything it´s still so beautiful, bright, some guards pass right in front of me doing their guard. Abruptly, I stop, and see how it was a group of pure rookies, easily distinctive of how light their uniform was, being led by an elderly officer.

They were a group of the new guards belonging to the candy kingdom. They looked meaner, smarter and more effective overall the those pretty stupid banana guards.

I stop my walking, and look as they pass right in front of me like a chivalry, seeing how they started to divide the crowd in two different rows. Most of the didn´t bother to see what was to their sides or behind them. Except one little rookie who decides to look back. He looks me right at me eyes, and I return the sight. He chokes for a second, and he decides to alert his fellow men, while turning back to me.

"Men! Th-there´s a pirate in he-here!" Said the Rookie, while shivers went through his body, aiming with his rifle and bayoneted where I was.

The officer went to him, and looked at both rows, seeing nothing. The young one earned himself a slap from his officer in command, being followed by a mock of his fellow men.

"Anschäwalser! Return to your place and continue the parade!" Said the officer while returning to his spot, right in front of the chivalry.

"Aye, aye my Officer!" Answered the rookie.

The guards decided to continue their daily journey through the city. As always, the people couldn´t contain and decided to look for the o´mighty pirate. They looked at faces, vessels, buildings and privateers, finding nothing.

"Good morning, mighty privateer! What could I offer to you today?" Said the bartender of the pub I was walking to from the docks.

Logically, they did not found me because when the rookie looked at me, and choked, I quickly decide to switch rows, and move forward to this lovely, cozy, little wood and brick pub.

"Thanks, ehh…" I answered, while taking off my hood.

"It´s Mavis, Captain" The Bartender answered.

"Aright, Mavis, gimme a cold glass of mead." I said, making a size suggestion with my palm, while resting the other one in the table while sitting down.

Mavis turned back to me, and approached the mead, wine or beer wooden kegs on top of the table in front of me. He started to serve a cold glass of mead, in a boot like tall glass. While approaching me with the glass, and taking an old cloth to clean the marble table, he decided to speak.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"About what?" I said while taking the glass off the table.

"How I knew you´re a captain" He said while I gave my first gulp of mead.

After swallowing, a lowered the glass once more, and cleaned my mouth with my right hand glove. After that, I looked over both of my shoulders, to appreciate a little the people of this pub, and the pub itself. It's a nice, fancy place. Behind me, there were some high class people, and some rich privateers I had seen at some point, sitting in tables divided by a plank of ebony coloured wood, sitting in either the red velvet sofa´s attached to the wall, or in fancy designed black and white wood chairs.

To my right, after the bar extended around twenty more meters, we had the bathrooms. Two doors in a wall, which had either the symbol of an anchor, for men, or a mermaid, for the ladies.

To my left, after the end of this ten meter, crescent moon table I was resting laid the wooden door, which had crescent, moon shaped glass in them. Two pillars lay to both sides of the door, and to the right pillar there was a window with a view to the docks. That´s how I saw all the fuss.

In front of me, laid Mavis with a face of wonder, while cleaning the marble, crescent moon table. Behind him, and to his right, my left, shelves of liquor so fancy I could not even pronounced were hanged.

"The posters" I said with a smile.

He stopped the cleaning, and opened a drawer under the table. He passed me a key that was in that drawer, and signalled me something behind my back.

"Open it" He said, while returning to his cleaning

I turned my back, and saw a plank of wood, with a mechanism that had the lock in the middle, supposing that you could open in somehow.

"Come one" Said Mavis, seeing how I was still wondering what to do.

"Chill, man." My answered came when I was leaving my seat, and approaching such plank

After introducing the key, it opened itself. The mechanism divided the first layer, another plank of wood, and slid to the sides. What was inside was a wanted board, with lots of wanted posters.

"Do you see it?" Mavis asked, while I was looking at the other poster´s

I decided to look at the top, in which the biggest bounties are put. There it was, my wanted poster.

"Fuck" I whispered

"What´s the matter? Captain Finn, leader of the North White Bear fleet" Mavis tone was of one mocking.

I turned to him, and saw him coming forward to me with a lighter and a smiling face. I was astonished, because they had updated my picture. It wasn't anymore that blurry picture of me giving the back. That new picture was taken this year, as you could see that I was wearing this tunic. I wasn't exactly looking at whatever camera took the picture, but you could see my face covered by locks of long hair. Luckily, I was wearing my hood. Badly, I was wearing the tunic.

"Are you going to sell me out?" I asked Mavis, as the reward for my head was an amount of gold that doubled Ragnar. The most expensive ship of my whole fleet.

"Chill, man. I am not going to do nothing like that" Mavis answered while taking of the poster off the wall, and burning it with a lighter.

"Thanks." I said, while looking over to my right to see through a window, while a smile covered my face.

"It´s nothing. Come over here!" Mavis, after burning the poster, hugged me.

I laid there after the hug with an idiotic face. Mavis laughed, then I laughed. We returned to the bar table, and I slowly finished my mead.

"Hey, the reason why I hugged you, it´s because…well…" Mavis sighed before continuing. "My brother, your fleet saved his village from a raid. Thanks"

"How?" I asked, as his story seemed unreal to me

"You destroyed Red Crows southern fleet. Those guys destroy any place that doesn´t pay taxes, and the people of my brother´s Island didn´t"

"Destroyed" I corrected him.

He laughed once more, and looked down with a face of gratitude, almost crying. He then opened the drawer once more, and took an envelope, that looked like if it was of Royal purpose.

"That should take you to the best Tailor in the city. Get something proper of a captain, for Queen´s Bonnibel sake!" Mavis said with a smile.

The sound of her name hit me instantly. I took the envelope, and looked at it with an expression of sorrow.

"Yeah…thanks, Mavis" I said while getting up of my seat.

"What´s the matter?" Asked Mavis while I was at the door, ready for leaving.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Who?" Said Mavis, still concerned for me.

"Thy Queen" I answered.

The question startled Mavis, and he looked down with an expression similar to mine.

_Did I look that weak?_

"Goodbye, Mavis" I said while leaving the tavern.

I don´t know if he answered to anything, of it he heard anything at all. I just knew that I had to do something, or my conscience will eat me alive. I cannot stand more nights of insomnia.

I started to walk this city, as if it was the first time, when I heard the bells, meaning that it was already 12 o´clock. The envelope was in my inner jacket pocket, and, knowing how easily I would be spotted, I decide to open it.

_29/12/XXX98_

_Dear Mavis_

_Your gentle and artistic handwritten request letter has been accepted. Please, approach the master Tailor, your appointment with him has been granted, at 12´o clock tomorrow._

_Queensman Tailors_

"Well, that was convenient" I said while still walking through the main street.

Knowing that it´s at this time that the Navy start their route, I decide to walk the smaller streets between each building. Sun was still bright, even more now, so it would be easy to spot me.

_Wait, the direction_

I did not ask Mavis the direction. Looking through the letter once more, and the envelope, I saw a watermark in both. It was a symbol of a Swan and two swords. It wasn´t going to be hard to find it, as the buildings, they are many, but they are not tall.

I climbed to the top of one three stores building, to recognize and exanimate where I was. In the middle of this city, there´s a chapel used for Royal Marriages.

_Just climb that, and you will look like a King._

After walking four blocks north, three to the right, and two more ahead, I reached the chapel. It was a beautiful, gray and black chapel, and it had a deep, old well full of crystal water. You could see engravings in the stone, of both the chapel and the well. The faces of all the Queens were carved in the stone, as a memorial of them. They were set in an ached way, going up.

_And thy Queen´s lie in the center_

I went to the entrance, and decided to escalate from the point on. It was a long climb, but worth it, as I could see the small, yet great detail carved in the chapel.

_The world lies at my feet_

At the top, I felt like a King.

_I could have been a King_

I saw the immensity of the port, seeing the decks far south, in front of me, and the first set of houses in front of the docks. Behind me, more wood, concrete, bricks or marble buildings were attached to the ground.

Around eight blocks from the pub to my left, and three to the north, I saw the swan and two swords symbol, engraved in metal attached to the walls of a three stores, tailoring. It was white, with gray, northern symbols all around it. I was at the peak of the chapel, and I decided to jump to the well.

It was amazing, as the wind created a beautiful sound that I could only hear in thunderstorms, deep within the sea. The energy, the calm, and the adrenaline, were all washed away by the surprisingly clean and drinkable water. I fell right in the well, and after rising to the surface, I exited, and walked calmly, fully soaked, to the tailoring.

"Em… Good morning? Or Good afternoon? I am here to see the tailor" I said while entering the tailoring, totally soaked, dripping water all over the incredibly detailed carpet

"Lion fur…" I whispered, while kneeling down to caress the dead beauty.

"Don´t touch sire, please!" I heard a high pitched voice, screaming behind a door right in front of me.

A small candy lady, busted out of that door. She was running to me with a concerned expression, but she tripped because of her long dress.

"Milady, are you all right?" I asked her, as I saw that she fell right onto her face

"Ouch!" She screamed.

I walked to her, and helped her to get back on her feet. She had fell on her nose, which was heavily swollen.

"Thank you" She stopped for a moment to give a pain grunt "Young man"

She got on her feet, and went to the counter, which was located right to the table. She was walking slowly, so I took a quick glance at the place. A large window made of frosted glass was behind the counter, almost taking the entire place in such wall. You could see the street right in front of it, and you could see a bit of the docks. To the right and left of the door, pink velvet sofa´s attached to the walls.

In front, laid the door which I suppose it takes you to the other floors. To the left of the door, there was a zone, in which the carpet, instead of fur, was just a light, yellow colour. It had no door, and there were more sofa´s in that part.

"What can I offer you, young man?" She talked with pauses due to pain.

I walked to the counter, and gave her the soaked envelope with the letter inside.

_Great job, Finn, you´re an idiot._

"I see…" She said with a calmed smile, like the one tree trunk used to give me.

After recovering everything that could be recovered, she read carefully the letter.

"You´re not Mavis Earnhardt, are you" She said with a laugh at the end.

She got off the chair which allowed her to see over the counter, which was not very big, as it was around my solar plexus height. There was a button to the right side of the glass, which she pressed after getting off the chair. A red light bulb attached to the wall to the left of the possible next floor door, got on.

"Bloody causalities! I´m coming darling!" A middle aged voice screamed, in a weird, yet fancy accent.

"All right, what´s the problem my dear?" An old man busted through the door, wearing what looked like the most detailed royalty like blue carmagnole, full of details, with a saints-culottes pants.

"Oh, dear, here we have this young…" The little lady was talking until she got interrupted

"Why the hell is a soaked, sea dog doing in my tailoring?!" He said while approaching me

He started to walk around me, glancing at my clothes. His expression changed from rage and irritation, to appreciation and happiness.

"Oh mon Glob! Where did you get such robes?" He asked like a kid asking for a candy.

"Look, man, I´m just looking here for the tailor. I need something decent" At the end of that phrase, he slapped in the face.

"How dare you disparage such a fine piece of cloth?! There´s more histories in this robe that you imagine!" With anger, while taking my measurements, or the tunic measurements, he screamed.

He saved his tape-ruler, and looked at me once more.

"What brings you to Queensman tailors?" He asked while combing his large, white moustache.

That man was weird, but he had style. His hair was white, his skin was a shade of gray, and was combed to the back. His pose was stiffer, than yet as magnificent as a navy general.

"I´m looking for the Taylor, a new friend of my, a pub bartender called Mavis, gave me his appointment. If it´s a matter of gold, I´ve plenty." I opened the little pocket I wore my left thigh, showing that I had a modestly big amount of gold coins.

He slapped the face again, and came really close to me.

"Listen me you little twat, the Saint-Cygne tailors family doesn´t make it for money! There´s a reason we´re called Queensman, we only dress those related to thy Queens."

He was angry, but decided to approach the little lady, and read the letter. He kneeled down to the lady, and she whispered something to him. His expression changed, and he turned back to me.

"Take off your clothes, now."

_Globdammit _

"Excuse me?" I asked with a 'come on dude' expression.

"Ja heard me, take off ze clothes now!" He replied this time angrily.

"Ok…"

While the dude was looking at me with a serious face, and an angry brow, and the lady with a smile and blushes, I started by taking off first my tunic and everything attached to it.

_I´m feeling kind of raped…_

After that, then I took off my tie and waistcoat, then the buttoned white shirt. Then my white shirt.

"You wear a white shirt under another shirt?" The little lady asked like if she was disappointed.

"Yeah" I said while taking off my shirt.

Then, the shoes, socks and finally my belt. I´m not going to take off my pants.

"Done" I said with an irritated tone.

And they just came to me, started to touch my arms, chest, neck and back.

_I´m pretty sure that was rape_

"Ok, that was messed up, I´m out." I said while kneeling down to get my clothes.

"Sister, please bring me my tools" The Tailor told the little candy lady her assignment, so she left the room through the door.

"Please, sit in our waiting room. I would like to have a word with you, young Captain"

_How did him…_

We approached the waiting room. I felt cold while we were approaching the sofa´s, but it was warm in the building, so it did not last long. We sat down, and he took some cigarettes out of his pocket. He lighted them up with a match he had inside the sofa.

"So, young man, already a Captain, where did you obtain that Tunic?" He got pretty serious about that question, and his eyes turned dead. It was almost scary.

"Someone inherited to me" I answered.

I was sitting in the sofa from the right side of the front door, he was sitting in front of me, and the sofa to my right was not being used. They were really comfortable.

"The fourth, am I right?" His question startled me.

He expulsed the smoke through his nose, looking classy as it gets.

"Why do you care?" I ask more in a sense of why instead of fuck off.

"Because it belonged to Sir Galahad" He answered

"I know" I lied in response

"No, you don´t. Or at least you did" He answered once more.

I sighed, looked down in shame. The old man got up from the sofa, and sited right beside me.

"Galahad was the greatest pirate of them all; he started modern piracy, and the pirate´s honour code. The first gentle privateers and monarch corsairs. You were the robe his father gave him when he was your age, when he became Captain of his first vessel."

Like a little kid looking at his mother, I looked at the old man. His story, which I believed instantly, gave me pride in the robes I had become infamous.

"They told me it was only twenty years old" I told the Tailor

"It´s around two hundred years old" He said while turning off the cigarette, and letting the ash fall on the ash tray on top of the table between sofa´s.

"Everything´s here!" The little lady screamed while she approached us with a bunch of tape rulers.

"I changed my mind; bring him a white plain shirt, skinny, black cargo pants, and…" He said while snapping his thumbs.

"What´s your favourite colour, young man?" The little candy lady asked me.

_What the hell is going on? Fuck you, Mavis._

"Baby blue" I answered

"Bring him a hooded, black leather jacket. And bring me one those t-shirts in which the sleeves are a different colour. Make such shirt white and dark blue in the sleeves."

The lady left the room once more

"So now people dress me, great" I answered to whatever was happening.

"You look like a wet dog and smell like one. Wear something new, you´re a newcomer, aren't you?" The old man said, while looking at the half naked me.

"Aye"

She came really fast this time, with all of the clothes folded. I got off the sofa, the old man did too, and he walked in front of me.

"Not yet, dog. Go get that hear trimmed and get a shower"

He told me to do that, and, luckily there was a barber shop just outside.

"How was it?" He asked me, after one hour of leaving.

"It was good" I said, while caressing my short hair now.

_What kind of barbershop has a shower with hot water?_

The little, sweet lady was present no more. And a bunch of clothes were right beside the old man.

"Here, put it on" He passed me the promised clothing's, and an extra pair of boxers.

I looked at him with a question expression.

"Come on, I won´t look" He said while turning to his back.

He did not look through the whole process of me dressing up. And, when I finished, he instantly turned back to me with a mirror.

"Look at yourself" He said with a subtle smile.

It was a different style, which I had never worn before. Everything weirdly seemed fit, even though how fast he took the measurements. The jacket was cool, and it didn´t felt like plastic leather, but to actual leather, like the one the robe has. The pants were smaller, but I could still easily move. The most different thing was the white and blue sleeves shirt. It was comfortable, made partly of cotton, which brought back memories when I belonged to the land.

_When I could call this place home._

"So you like it" He said with smile in his face and a soft tone.

"How can you tell" My tone was low and melancholic.

"Because of the expressions you´ve made" He said while going to the counter

"Like what?" I asked while patting the jacket a bit.

"Here, put them on" He while walking back with a wood box

"What´s this?" I asked while he passed me the box

"They´re called cestus. You´ll need them" He said while turning to the waiting room and looking at the window at the other side of the room.

The box had a smooth feel, and it was lacquered by an expensive, type of brown-gold lacquer. It had many engravings, mainly flowers and swans, and a little golden lock. I opened when he sat in the sofa, seeing two gloves, which extended to my fore arms. They were pretty slim, and had a dark, brown-maroon shade of leather. The weird part is that in the knuckles, the first half of the back of the hand, and in the fingers individual's plates extended individually for each section... I touched them, and they were drilled into the gloves.

I took them out of the box, and placed it on the table of the waiting room. After putting them on, they didn´t felt heavy but they weren´t really light as regular gloves either. You could still jab really fast. The plates were drilled with really short screws, attached to a really thin plate of thicker, yet softer, leather. I threw some punches here and there, and it felt right. I would never be the underdog again in a swordfight.

"Hit the wall a couple times" The old man said, while moving once more behind the counter.

I did, and it felt so good. It did not hurt, and I saw as the paint started to peel off the wall. I felt and heard how the planks of wood behind the layers of paint started to crack.

I stopped, as I was getting just too excited. The old man was making a receipt.

"Here, take this" He gave me another envelope, with had the same style as the one Mavis gave me.

"What is this?" I asked while touching it

"It´s an invitation, there will be a gale in two nights from today. All Queen´s will be present, and I want to dress a mighty privateer in the robes of a Sire." He answered smiling, looking at my shocked expression

I had not realized it, but he was taller than me. He was skinny, but he did not look weak. We were wearing a monocle.

"Why are you giving this to me?" I asked with innocence

"I know you want to go there. Something, I don´t know what exactly, tells me that you were once a Queensman. It´s my duty to deliver well-dressed gentleman to thy Queen´s."

"Thanks" I said with a sad smile, while saving the envelope in the inner pocket of the jacket.

"I´ll have you a dress similar to the one my great-great grandfather made for Grayson" He said while going to a counter.

He proceeded to sit, and opened a diary and started to shuffle pages, looking for a drawing or entry.

"Who is Grayson?" I said when he had found that precious entry, which had an inked illustration of a highly detailed outfit, with many layers and details.

"Oh, pardon my manners. Sir Galahad is a position given by the royal council. Even though there hasn´t been a Galahad in two centuries" He paused and sighed, and looked over from the diary to me. "As there was not a single queen in those two periods of time."

I smiled, knowing that those beautiful ladies had grown up to become magnificent rulers, as what I´ve been told.

"Is there any Queen you are eager to see?" He asked while looking back to the illustration.

He took a pen and another, smaller diary he was saving in his breast pocket, and started to sketch a new suit based on the one in the old diary.

"Just a dark haired lady and the sweetest queen of them all"

He stopped in that moment, and looked at me with concern. I could only expect the worst. Fear started to take over me, as my thought had made him stop his work, and look at me with a face of the worst of hopes.

"Thy Queen´s you´re eager to see, they are not…" He paused, and thought his thesis "…happy."

"What happened?" I asked with fear in my tone, while approaching the desk.

"Look, young man, there has been problems I cannot understand, as matters related to such events are not told to someone like me. Or maybe, I just don´t want to tell you." He said with a serious tone, looking menacing.

"Tell me!" I stated.

He stranded up, proving once more who was bigger. I felt no fear, as the cestus I wore, and the abilities I have, could easily take on a simple tailor. But his expression changed to understanding. He walked to my side, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Kid, those Queens have problems. Their own problems. I cannot tell you, as I have decided to stay away of such matters. I can only tell you, that thy sweetest lady of them all, has had some sentimental problems. Ever since we opened this continent to the world, many peasants and princes, even Kings, have asked for her hand. She has grown to a quite sentimental disequilibrium, as she has negated those parts of herself over the years."

I felt calm now, as they were at least physically healthy. The old man started to fix my clothes, making them look proper.

"And thy dark haired lady, thy Queen of red eyes, she´s has tried to kill herself multiple times. Or at least I´m told. Stories say that she only cuts herself every night, screaming, singing melancholically violent songs, and spends day after day just withering away." He said while cleaning his monocle.

"I must go now" I said with little patience, walking to the door.

"Hey, Kid, don´t you have something to say?" He asked while I opened the door.

"Thanks...old man" I said, looking at him for the last time today.

"Call me Harry. Harry Gaheris" He said smiling.

"Whatever you say, old man Harry. Say goodbye to the little lady for me." I said laughing.

I stepped out of the tailoring, and started to run north of the city, to purchase myself a stallion. Harry walked out of the door too.

"Don´t forget to reclaim the suit! The evening from two days from today!" He screamed, while throwing at me a new, pocket watch, with a cover of silver and a ring of gold.

I catch it, and saw the time. It was 02:45 pm.

_Marceline´s sleeping by now_

If I could purchase a worthy stallion, I could get to her home in one and a half day.

"I won´t be able, Harry! Where I´m going is just too far!" I screamed in reply.

"Then purchase a steel beast!" He screamed an advice.

I smiled one last time at the old man, as my goodbye.

"Thank you" I whispered.

Then, I focused north, and started to run. It´s an incredibly big city, but the price is never too expensive, when it comes for a member of your family´s health. She´s part of it. I already left her once; I cannot commit the same mistake again.

_Please, Marceline, wait for me._


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Unexpected**

The wind violently caressed my hair, and the faster I rode, the heavier it got. The violent sound of a metal, oil drinker stallion filled my eardrums. But I could not hear it, as my mind was submerged in the thoughts of a struggling friend. And, just like that, lost in my thoughts and expectations, a beast of a two-wheel ride rode the land like if it was nothing. The smell of grass being pulverized due to the speed of the wheels, along with the feel of smoothness, like if I was riding over water when I was riding over sand, made this journey more pleasant.

As pleasant as it can be when you know a friend of yours may be dying in this moment.

I took the old man´s advice, and purchased instead a metal beast. There were many choices; some were weird machines like a three wheeled bike, or a boat with wheels. I saw a stallion made of metal and gears between the rarest, yet most expensive of all the vehicles. My eye was caught by the image of a beautiful black painted, chromed, and two-wheeled with massive tires motorcycle. The seat was curved from the gas tank, to the seat, but then raised up due to the mudguard. It seat was covered in leather, and it was chromed in every metal part.

"Beautiful machine, am I right?" A cowboy, a man that went by the name of Arthur Ford, spoke to me.

I did not reply, and I just nodded. After that, I just took out of the inner pocket of my jacket, a bag full of gold coins. I took his hand, opened it, and just laid it there. He was shocked because of such fast transaction, but he went along with it. I sat on top of my new stallion, and he took the keys out his pocket and placed them in the handle. Like if I had rode bikes all my life, I just started that thing and went off.

"Just wait for me. Please, give me more time" I whispered to myself, as the journey had been long, and desperation was taking over.

The journey had started at 03:00 pm, and, after looking at the clock inside the handle, I realized that the journey had taken almost twelve hours already of just ravaging the land, filling it with smog and the cry of a fast beast. I held even tighter the handle as every minute passed, but it was getting very hard. For the past four hours, an unforgiving storm poured water violently all over the country side. Just thirty minutes ago, hail and lighting started to leave the black night skies.

My eyes started to blink really fast, a sign of exhaustion. The insomnia was passing the bill, but the adrenaline was refusing to pay it, so I just breathed really hard and accelerated even more. The tank was almost out of gas, as the sound of liquid moving was becoming smoother and lower. It didn´t mattered, even if the bike was going to give on me, I would just leave it in the middle of nowhere, and walk the reminding's of the path.

I would do anything necessary to my destination.

_Anything_

The smell of this place was familiar. You never forget the smell, or at least feel, of the place where you grew up. I had both at this moment. Finally, I was once again in the grassland´s, were I was once a prince. The storm was growing up; you could feel the wrath of nature pouring all over us. I passed to the side of a camp, a settlement of just small tents. It was sad to see those tents being hit by the winds. Screams and cries of child's could be heard, along the whispers of parents telling them it will be alright.

No, it won´t. When you live in the sea, you learn that there is no such thing as mercy in nature.

My eyes were focused on my future, of what was in front of me. Just random lightings, raindrops, little hail pellets, and all of the black clouds that could be seen. There were no moon, no stars. It seemed like if there wasn´t any sky at all, just shadows. But a shadow was all that I needed.

I switched gears once more, and using the advantage of the flatness of this part of the grassland, the bike hit full speed. The lights could have shown me what lay ahead, but they weren´t necessary. My jacket was soaked in the outside, yet dry in the inside. The T-Shirt too, but I couldn´t say the same about the cestus gloves, shoes and pants.

_Endless water hasn´t been able to drown me, this small storm won´t even harm me._

Lightings started to rain, the skies were clear for short periods of time. I didn´t even flinched, either to the sound or light. Between shadows created by darkness, and silhouettes shown by the light, I saw a gigantic tree rise up from the land, almost touching the sky, fearing nothing. It was only a silhouette, but, after a little white flower landed on my right shoulder, I knew where I was.

I was home.

There was still a path ahead, just a couple hundred meters, which the beast easily traveled in a handful of minutes. I didn´t feel them, as the biggest feeling of nostalgia during this long three years raid my mind. So powerful, that the seriousness of my face during my journey, was now a smile.

Shadows were still the picture, but I could see now in all its mighty that old oak fight the forces of nature. Water, wind and lighting. Nothing could make the old house inside the tree trunk rumble, move or even twitch. Bring backs memories of pyjama fights, pillow fortresses', long naps, hot cocoa and videogames, the warmth of a family, the warmth of love.

_But this night is cold._

I could now hear the sound of the motor bouncing back with the wood of the tree. For first time in four hours, I turn on once again the lights. Those things waste gas like if it was water, and I needed as much for this journey. At least is over.

The closer I got, the more fear took over my mind. Realizing that I had to face my consequences of leaving was never a recurring thought. Yet, this insomnia caused them every day. A message coming from my dreams, but is a privateers duty to know that they only hold a dark future.

Finally, I arrived. There was still a short path to walk, but the bike was already too hot, instantly evaporating hail to the touch. Rain was still washing the land off, so putting my hood was unnecessary. Before turning of the motorcycle, the lights were hitting ye old wooden door. It was scratched, full of wanted, witch inside, eviction and Royal Council Tax evasion notice. The RCT was the worst, as privateer say that they would burn buildings, hire pirates to destroy vessels or kidnap family members just to get the taxes paid.

Heaven is never too expensive, not even when you sail the rivers of hell. I stared at the old gate to an abandoned home, and saw how scratches and demonic symbols were carved onto the wood. Back in the day, a noon of a hot summer, I remember visiting Marceline´s cave with Jake, and those same symbols carved the rock of the place. That could only mean that Marceline had been sleeping here.

It had been a long night, and my body was begging me to sleep. An hour will be enough, and then I will only have to eat and fill the gas tank. We´ll be good to go then. I was walking to the door, touched it, and felt how old the wood had gotten. After slightly touching the door, it immediately opened. I entered the old house, and saw how many things were intact, even though this place could be easily wiped out.

Logically, treasures were wrong. The old cabin attached to the tree house as front door was empty, no gold or chests could be seen. There were holes in the walls, and some part of its tin roof was removed, letting me appreciate the continuing storm, while lightings illuminated this old shackle. It was empty, old, and depressing.

After climbing those exaggeratedly stairs I once helped to build, and passing through the tree trunk that was once storage of gold instead of spider web and dust, I finally reached the first living room. Everything was pretty much the same, and my standards were not high. I knew that this place was abandoned, but seeing it with the curved couch, the ragged painting, the freezer and pretty much everything else, made me rave of happiness.

Lightings still came through the windows, letting me see how gloomy this abandoned place looked at night. Roots and leaves were everywhere, showing us the power of nature when it wants to claim what it´s hers back. And she does it merciless, just like an old, young lady I have to check on. I looked everywhere, but there was nothing to eat except the growing, little rounded pink fruit growing of the bark of some little trees growing inside the floor.

They tasted sugary and had a lot of juice inside. When both hit my stomached, I realized how hungry and thirsty I was. Seeing all that water poring over and I didn´t even drank a drop. My next room was my old bedroom.

Entering it was exhausting, I felt instant need to sleep the moment I saw my bed. Like most of the things in the tree, everything was still there. Those ragged pelts, the wardrobe Jake used to sleep in, the desk, etc. Clothes couldn´t be found, or at least male clothing. I saw some black underwear topping the blanket, and after removing some pelts, I saw Queen´s Bubble-gum old rock T-Shirt in the same place as some black lingerie and red panties.

_No questions to ask._

The wardrobe and basically every place where you could put clothes were filled with some of the princesses clothing. Be it underwear, regular shirts, socks, or even full long dresses. I could easily recognize that the clothing were property from the princesses, as they always used to repeat the same clothing and colour scheme in their clothing. After saving princesses for so long, you start to see something else than faces and tiaras.

I climbed out of the window, and slowly walked to the boat-balcony attached to a strong branch coming out of the window. All the paint was peeled off, and just little dots and stains of paint could be seen. The wood wasn´t rotting, but it was getting old and soft. The telescope was gone, the umbrella too. It was a beautiful view.

The land extended farther from my vision capacity, but it was dark, and you could barely see anything. Everything was toned gray, but, this destruction was beautiful. It remembered me the night I became Captain, it was like seeing black and white, until everything went red.

Some thunders and lightning bolts here and there, some forest starting to burn, some people being shocked, and the roar of the always loving, but never forgetful, mother nature. I decided to return, and remembered why I didn´t even went there in the first place, it´s just boring. My next location to be was the second living room, with the old gramophone and tall, purple sofa. There was some wood to side of the black chimney, and it was freezing. I decided to strip off my clothes, excepting my pants. I lighted on the chimney, and then attached a cord wall to wall, close to the chimney, to dry my clothes. Because it was dry, I wore once more the leather jacket.

I sat there a couple of minutes, and saw time burn. The flames moved from side to side, sometimes random, sometimes in patter. What was sure was that it was always unpredictable. Could it be controlled? That thought remembered me of that young fire lady who Jake tried to introduce me too. It was hard to hear her name, as I was far from the coast because the shipped had already sailed. I remember Jake run down the docks, screaming my name, seeing a blast of fire, with the upper body of a beautiful girl attached to it, chase Jake. He was sweating, almost crying. I forgot what he screamed, but it was related to founding me a girl to spend time with. I was really depressed that day, my mind was cloudy, my senses numb, and my heart broken.

Out of nowhere, I started to hear some sobbing. Little cries for help, almost muted by the falling rain. I could still remember the places and rooms of this house, and I knew were the sobs were from the attic.

I saw the door to the attic to my right and decided to go to it. Go out with just a jacket and soaked pants wasn´t a good idea, and, due to adrenaline running out, I felt the freezing water and hail in my skin. I was pale, and started to sneeze a lot. The Attic door closed itself due to the winds, and shivers started to rule my body. Walking through the moving bridge was exciting, because it was like walking in an earthquake. I approached the entrance, and I saw a shadow shivering, sobbing, and covered by black hair.

_Could it be…?_

The silhouette didn´t reveal much but something that was shivering, crying and alone. I approached what or who was sleeping in the attic, seeing the long, black hair that shined every time lighting burned the ground. Without any anticipation, a current of really cold wind passed through the whole for a door the attic has. When I felt it, I shivered and bit my teeth really hard, but that something, lying there, shivered like a lost wolf pup in the artic, crying for its mother. I was just a feet away from him or her or that. I crouched, and, out of curiosity, decided to caress the hair. So soft, and ironically warm. The moment I touched, it started to talk, proving that it was a female.

"…Finn…Finn…Finn…help…me…" She sobbed every pause, asking me for help.

Her voice was cracking, and it was low. Really low, and it sounded like she was sick, and didn´t had drank anything in days.

_It is._

Without further though, I took with my own hands the figure, and moved to me, turning it so I could see her face. Her skin was gray as always, but it was darker. Her blood was probably starting to loose rapidly any remaining warm she has. As illogical as it seems, she´s still alive somehow. Even though she´s a demon and vampire, that doesn't mean the force of nature is not able to kill her.

I kneeled to her, and decided to touch her forehead. Some locks of black hair were covering it. It was cold, really cold. She was still sobbing, and started to sweat. Her sweat was hot, while she was cold.

_She´s sick._

Violently, she started to rumble in the floor. Her fangs suddenly appeared, and she started to scratch everything that was around her. She was moving so violently, that she almost fell through the trap hole in the middle of the room.

"Ah!" I gasped in pain after she scratched my left cheek with one of her nails.

Seeing her moving everywhere, and almost falling, caused an unconscious reaction that made me pick her up. In the process, damage was caused. But it was totally worth it.

I grabbed her from the floor, a few feet away from the trap hole, in a bridal position. She fought a little why I raised her from the floor, but when she was in my arms she started to calm down. Her sobbing was quieter now, and a little bit of warmth started to fill her. It was as much I could ask now.

"Don´t be afraid, Marceline. I´m here now" I looked down at her, and I saw how she went back to a calm sleeping position.

"Finn…" She whispered once more, with a much more tired tone.

She smiled at the end of that whisper, which made me smile back. Without second thoughts, I brought her back into the tree-house. During our trip back, I glanced at her many times. It didn't matter if a lightning bolt struck right in front of me, or if the moon itself would fall right behind me. I just could not stop looking at her.

We entered the tree house, and I saw my clothes almost dry due to the heat from the stove. Softly, I laid Marceline in the ground, and realized that she was wearing just a white crop top, a black bra and a totally destroyed, and ragged, black jeans pants and now shoes. It was a pretty "Vampire Queen style", which is what she always wore. But it wasn´t her cloths what startles me, because I don´t give the slightest of fucks about that, but the amount of time she endured the storm with such light clothes. It was amazing what a half vampire, half demon lady can achieve.

I patted my shirt, the gloves and everything else. I stripped once more, but decided to leave the jeans to dry up this time. The shirt covered in a nice way my boxers, which luckily were not soaked. Just a little wet. She was still shivering in the floor, and, because I was barefoot, I could know why. It was freezing. I took my jacket, and let it dry a bit for around five minutes.

She was still shivering, but at least the sobbing had stopped. I sat to her side, and started to caress her beautifully long, black hair. It was as black as this night, which could have almost killed her. I never was the kind of right guy in the wrong place, but I feel that this was that kind of situation. I took her arms, and sensed how cold they were. I went for my gloves, and put them back on. With speed, I rubbed them to heat them up. After feeling the gloves warm, I rubbed them in the arms and belly of Marceline.

Her cheeks instantly redden as I moved my arms through her arms and abdomen. She moaned a bit, not of pleasure, but as when you try to breath after holding your breath after a really long time. Her skin colour was better now, and the temperature of her body was enough to avoid her dying from hypothermia.

The jacket dried totally, and it was time to put it on her. It was easy; she was knocked out due to exhaustion. The jacket perfectly fitted her, with lots of space to spare obviously. Weird enough, when I turned back to put on my half dried pants, I heard her sniffing. I turn back, and half of her face was inside the jacket. She was breathing heavily, as if she was trying to recognize the smell. When all that sniffing ended, she smiled. I was dumbfounded, but when along with it.

I carried her through the house in a piggyback way. It was hard, not because of her weight, as she is almost as light as a feather, but the total lacks of any light that wasn´t a really faint grey. She slipped a few times, but not enough for her to fall.

We finally arrived to my bedroom, and I immediately decided to tug her in, and put as many furs and sheets as I could find to warm her up more. She moved a bit when she was in the bed, but in a few matter of minutes she started to sleep. Her breath told me that she was sleeping very well.

"Rest, little bad girl" I said while rubbing my eyes, with a smile on my face.

Thunders, lightings and hail still rain with rage from the clouds, but, for the first time in this night, I saw an actual light in front of my eyes. My tired, privateer eyes, saw a resting, gray and young powerful light in front of them. I decided to return to the second living room for my reminding clothes, and to turn down the stove as I don´t want to this place to burn down with Marceline inside.

I went then to the first living room, and decided to drop dead on top of the rounded, soft sofa. When I did, I realized that it was even softer now. Sometimes age is something good. I went to the bedroom and grabbed some extra sheets and a pillow for me, when lightning struck the horizon. The light shined the whole bedroom, and the glass from the window was totally shattered.

In those very few moments of light, I took a glance at myself. I realized that everything was pretty much the same, excepting one thing. Me. I don´t belong here anymore, but I don´t care. Lots of things have been taken away from me and I´m not going to quit to this again. I could only hope that tomorrow would let me start over.

_I´m home_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A new Day**

"…would that be it?" She asked in her soft voice, while making the calculations in a small paper pad.

Her wrinkles looked like cloth. As if they were the remaining of silk, that she used to make her dress, which revealed arms and feet, but nothing more. She manipulated the remaining cloth to paint a smile, while closing a bit her eyes. The two rounded crystals that formed her glasses made light bounce; some of it fell over her reddish gray hair. Age had been merciful with her, yet not enough to let her live forever.

"Yes, miss. That would be it." I answered with a delicate smile, which she glanced at, giving back a generous, honest smile.

Her age gave her a wiser look, and her small body, of around a meter and half, gave her an innocent look. Just an old lady, whose age made her truly strong, as only strong people are always kind.

"Here's your change, young man." She answered with kindness, while giving me the change of my purchase.

Our hands touched, as I was not wearing my cestus, which were waiting in my back pocket, eager for blood. It had tenderness, buried in her flesh. Like when you palpate the paw of a mother bear that is waiting for her cubs to return to her motherly, warm love. They felt so soft, so calm, and so true to her.

"Is there a problem, young man?" She asked with a confused expression in her face; letting more wrinkles, little skin waves, form in her forehead.

Before I knew it, my rough hands here over her hand. I palpate the palm, and then touched my hand with a finger. The texture difference made me realize how you could truly define someone by its hands. Either by how they feel, what they are holding, or what they look.

"None, milady" A rare expression left my mouth, which I used to feel hands similar to hers.

The cheeks spread out, forming a smile. Her eyes closed, and she giggled. Yet, I never let her hand go.

"What are you feeling?" She asked with a smile and open eyes, glancing at my curious expression.

"Kindness" I answered without thinking "Which is absent in the seas" My soul spoke for me.

Her expression turned to a one of concern, her eyes telling me that she feared for me. I could only smile, as the sorrow I felt, was none of her business. It´s a pity to be miserable. Yet it´s pathetic to share it with someone. More, if it´s innocent.

_Pure_

I took the bag, full of cherries and strawberries, a bit of cranberries here and there, and decided to make a not and take it.

"Good bye" I said with an instinct smile, while turning my back of her, glancing, sadly, at her face frowning with concern.

She, softly said goodbye too. I could not hear it. I had to read it of her lips. The sun was still bright, yet darkness might have attacked her mind. I walked my thoughts off, letting me relax my worried self.

"Hey! Look at where you´re going!" A man, around thirty centimetres, screamed after I had stumbled upon him

I guess I´m not relaxed enough.

"You might stomp over someone in the plaza! It´s a public place" While he left my sight, he talked once more pure rubbish.

A beautiful, roofless bazaar opened in the middle of the flat part owned by the grass lands. A medium sized billboard was hanged in the beginning of the red brick road, which stand around twenty meters to my left. Some store´s, made out of brick with a wooden roof, stood in some spots of the brick road. But, all the other things that made out the bazaar, where just stands composed of just a table, a sign, some hand made products and very nice people.

"I love this place" I said whispering, while the wind passed through my hair, taking my words with it.

I breathed as much air as I could, letting me smell fresh baked cherry pie, a loaf of cheese-bread, some powder, scented candles, cologne and the smell of a red headed lady, who passed to my right, while looking and smiling at me. I turned a bit my head, to look at her. But, she left where I was in just a few seconds, by entering into a store.

Hungry as I was, I decided to approach one of the last stands, big enough to cover three to four, regular sized stands. They were selling goods and food, some medicine here and there, and white plain t-shirts.

A sheet of paper lay inside my left, jean pocket with a pen by its side. I went to the wall by my left, right in front of the stand. The paper was put to the wall, and I started to write a list with everything I needed for a decent, yet delicious homemade breakfast. It was ten and half in the morning, by the way. Everything was pretty basic: A loaf of fresh bread, sweet flour, powdered sugar, a coffee bag, three apples, ham, honey, bacon, tomatoes, garlic, some eggs, pancake mix, beef, some spices, and, finally, chocolate and tomatoes.

"Good morning" I said, while approaching to the stand´s, which had a tent for a roof, counter.

I could appreciate the colours of the tent, which were the ones who belonged to the rainbow. The light came through very kindly, and there was more than enough shadow, yet because of its darkness you were covered by cherry or by violet, some even peach coloured light could cover you.

"Good morning, young gentleman. What can I do for you?" Another man, who could not be older than three years of me, spoke.

"May you give me the items signalled in this list, please?" I answered, while giving him the sheet of paper.

"Hmmm. Quite a lot for a breakfast for one, anyone waiting a meal with you?" He joked after reading the list.

His mischievous smile was followed by a quick yawn. He stands up from the counter, in which his elbows were resting. After a quick beard scratch, and combing his hair with his fingers, he went to what looked as the owner of the stand. A tall guy, pretty muscular, stood in front of me, with a t-shirt inside his beige pants with an overall on top.

"Everything will be ready in around two minutes. The cost is twelve gold coins. Do you mind taking everything in a sac?" He asked.

His beard moved while he talked, and his hair covered his ears. I just nodded, with an almost expression in my face. The one of child would make, if he was either bored or sleepy. Off my pocket, I took the money needed for the goods, and placed them in the counter. He took them all, and by moving his fist up and down, he weighted the coins. It looked like he knew how much a single coin weighted, as he nodded to me, telling me that I had the right quantity.

"Inäi, come." The owner called the young lad who attended me.

"Here, save it and record it in the books" He told the lad his short job.

"Alright, Ennis" The lad answered with laziness, as he was very sleepy.

Ennis, the owner, moved to the back. Between shadows, I saw the same red-headed lady which I encountered before in the middle of the street. Her skin had the colour of a honey-brown, yet the red of her hair stomped over those soft colours. Her skin was rounded, and her arms thin. She decided to put on the overall, the simple uniform of her work. The Lad, named Inäi, passed the list to her, and she and he started to fill a brown fabric sac. Couple minutes later, they filled the medium sized sac. She came to the counter, while moving a lock of her short hair behind her ear. She placed it on top of the counter, with a little difficulty, as her thin arms did not help her a lot. She tried to make any eye contact.

"Thank you…" I whispered.

She, rarely, heard it and decided to lift her face. Her height was around my chest, and her hair fell to her neck. Her skin reflected light, which bounced in my eyes. She must have liked them, as she instantly lowered her head to stop looking at me.

Softly, I raised my right hand and decided to touch her cheeks. She moved her face to me, while I still rubbed the soft skin belonging to her.

"What is your name?" I asked while starting to touch the locks of red hair, which covered her soft ears.

"Huh?" She, softly, answered with an innocent look.

I moved furthermore, very close to the counter, and decided to whisper to her ear the question once more.

"What is your name?" I spoke once more, before taking the sac and leaving that place.

I walked the brick road once more, with the sac over my back being hold by my left hand. Some taps here and there, meant that someone was running. That person must be really skinny too, as the sound was light.

"My name is Nana…" I heard a whisper behind me, by the zone of my back.

A soft skin hugged me, and then left quickly. ¿Should have I looked back? No. It would have been unnecessary. If I think about it, I have done things in this few days that I should have not. I´ve been kind. I´ve been innocent.

_I´ve been weak._

There is no place for weaklings when you journey inside the sea. The biggest mirror, in the planet. It will not show your face, but what you truly are. But if you focus too much, you´ll drown.

The path extended just too long, made me anxious about returning to my motorcycle. The heat made me thank the fact that I wasn´t wearing my jacket. I walked what was left of the half a kilometer length of the brick road, in which the bazaar extended. Before returning to my motorcycle, which I left by the side of an oil seller, a battalion passed in front of me. Quickly, and almost by pure animal instinct, I moved to hide in an alley between two storages.

They passed, they marched, and they did not look behind. Corruption was shown during their parade, captained by a woman, when they stole goods, ate the food, robbed the items, and stole the tax money. They moved side to side, slightly breaking formation, to do what they knew better. To put fear into the innocent.

"Hello, my darling. May you please give us the tax money?" One of the soldiers, a mischievous fox, moved to a stand to rob them their effort.

While the talker was blackmailing, the rest ate the fruits that were being sold in that stand. The owners could do nothing but fear and pay, as those little muffin people could not fight back, as, possibly, their punishment would be being eaten. Many of them have been already, as the unfairness of a simple peasant position and royal army gives just disadvantages in life.

"H-here´s all the money…please…don´t hurt us…" With pauses, fear and desperation's, the muffin people were begging for mercy.

They had none. The parade became destruction, as they broke their line just to destroy the efforts of a little family of three. Very few seconds they took to finally send the little table, and fruits to the ground. Between laughs, the miserable bunch left the little destruction they caused. Sitting in the ground, the little three muffins cried, as they knew that it wasn´t the last time they would do it, and in frustration because it wasn´t the first either.

I left the shadowy alley in which I hided, and walked to them. They saw me, and light bounced over the tears that lubricated their eyes. An apple was beside my left foot, which I decided to pick. It was as red as that girl´s hair, or Marceline´s eyes.

"I´ll help you. But, please tell me where to find spare clothes" With a blank expression, I took a bit of the apple and decided to tell them I was going to help.

I threw half of my gold coins I had with me. A total of nineteen gold coins fell to the floor, which they decided to pick up. The father stood up. He shakes my hand while lowering his head, and then told me with his index finger the closest place to buy some spare robes.

"Thank you" I say to them, while they smile to me for reasons I don´t know.

The parade of corrupt sons of bitches wasn´t too far, yet I decided to go in a stealth matter to approach them. Hiding in alleys, turning my back to them, entering and exiting the few storages or stores made out of bricks and wood. Anything I could do just to find the correct moment, to face them in privacy. If it wasn´t because I planned to do something that would call payback a step down, I would do it in plain sight. Wanted posters showing my face covered in my old long hair didn´t help either.

"Aye, mates, let´s count the booty of today´s!" A half-drunk guard spoke.

We had exited the bazaar, and were located behind abandoned fabric storage. The guards sat down, extending a large cloth to sit on, like if they were preparing a picnic. Well, maybe they are, as I saw them drop sacs and bags filled with wine, cheese, bread, fruits and other fancy food. Money, gold and jewellery were storage in the little bags each one of them had attached to their leg.

"Such a delicious wine is more of a delight to calm thy thirst by drinking the blood of young grapes. Especially when they are accompanied by fresh cheese, and the tears of the peasantry." The lady, who directed the hounds, spoke.

"Thou treachery to our Queen hast been more than enough. How can thou, thy protectors of the people, commit such act of violence and abuse?" I left my place between the shadows, and walked to the group, expressing my feelings toward those acts of crime.

_I´m quite the hypocrite, how can I feel such hate towards crime, when I command criminals?_

They were sitting under the shadow of an old tree, whose trunk was shedding bits of wood, and it´s braches were deploying the red and maroon leaves required to fill the autumn landscape. In few seconds, they stood up, and decided to approach me. The cracks of breaking leaves signalled the few bunch remaining of the squad, who were approaching me from behind. A total of eight half guard's half bandits approached me from different angles.

With a deep breath, I used a trick my old captain taught me. He used to call it _Breath of the Bear._ He used to say, that you could, through a deep breath, recognize the warmth inside a body, and locate a person or animal. Any living thing could be localized with this ability, developed by the great bears to hunt during the great snows and harsh winters.

"Don´t look at me like that, boy. I don´t like that look. You have the eyes of a beast." The commander spoke, reacting to me looking at her.

She was right; I have the eyes of a beast. No. Even a beast would run if it would see what this eyes of mine, have seen. There were two behind me, three to my sides, one left, two rights. Then, in front of me there was the dark lady and her minions. Nothing hard to destroy. At all.

"Do you know why a beast screams?" I asked, while getting my cestus gloves out of my pocket.

"Shut up, you little shit!" One of the minions, by the side of his command, sprinted towards me.

Ironically enough, he called me little. When he was in front of me, he realized that I was taller than him, in without further thought, I inserted my middle and index fingers in his eyes.

"Ah!" He screamed in pain, while some transparent slime left his eye socket accompanied by blood and sobs.

He instantly fell into his knees, and dropped the knife he was going to attack me with. Screams were the only thing leaving his mouth, as not only the pain of his wound was torturing him, but entering a world of darkness must have scared him. He had a gun in a holster attached to his belt, by his back. I grabbed it, and saw that was a modified flintlock, with an eight bullets barrel to each side. A two shot, eighteen rounds flintlock.

"So that can creature may avoid fight, by scaring the other one." I said, while charging the pistol, and grabbing the newly blind minion´s head.

I took his face, and positioned towards me. The pistol was now in the space between his eyes, well, eye sockets, as his eyes are now squished inside his skull. A last sound coming from the pistol came, signalling the enter of the two bullets into each respective barrel. He stopped his screaming and crying, sobbing while preparing for what´s next. He knew how a gun barrel feels like. Cold and dead.

"But, what happens when that animal does not scream? Does not roar?" I asked, while tightening the grip and trigger.

A boom was heard, and remaining's of brain, hair and skull painted the brown leaves red, giving the look of unnatural autumn. The red, cold autumn.

"They just bite" I said, while charging two more bullets.

"Attack the motherfucker" She said with irritation, while unsheathing a long sword, proving she truly belonged to the guard.

The ones behind me tried to go to my arms, but I dodged one and tackled the other one. We fell to the floor, where I was able to hit the guy in the nose, breaking it. The other meaning tried to jump over me, but he could only be surprised as I disarmed him from his knife, not without stabbing him with it in the throat while he still was gripping the handle.

The dagger slashed veins and muscles, giving him a quick, merciful death. I used it to eliminate the bleeding one in the floor. A quick cut to jugulate his neck. I had to be fast, as the remaining five approached me. Two idiot ones came side by side, which allowed me to advance and stab one in the face, and shoot the other one in the heart.

Seeing five corpses in the ground, made me recover the feelings I had lost in this few days. The feeling of bloodthirsty.

"Maybe I´m being too merciful with your deaths" I spoke softly, while cleaning with my t-shirt the dagger.

She laughed with her eyes closed. When she stopped, she pointed her sword at me.

"Don´t worry, we won´t with your" She established her plans.

I charged the gun once more and blew the brains out of one of the remaining three guards, proving who had the advantage. The shock of seeing how quick I could take lives, made her doubt of herself, which caused her biggest mistake.

"Do it now, Andros!" She called the one remaining guard beside her.

That guy threw daggers at me, which I dodge easily. If I can dodge bullets, I can surely dodge dagger. Yet, her plan worked. I concentrated too much on the daggers, which allowed her to cut me in the forearm with her blade.

I smiled, seeing it was only superficial. But, she proved that I was not the only one who could cause someone to shed blood.

"It´s over" I said with furious rage, yet with a low tone.

I charged the gun, and shot the remaining bullets into the guy´s body, not letting him die instantly, but of bleeding out. He fell to the floor like what he will be, a corpse. She was shocked, knowing that her only weapon where her guards and sword. But it was now out of bullets. I used my last resource, and threw the dagger at full speed into the lady´s neck.

I saw how in desperation, she pulled it out. A burst of blood bathed her dying flesh as the dagger fell from her hands. The last image she would see would be the heartless image of a warrior. A murderer.

"Huh, so it´s you. Cormac…" She whispered with a smile on her face as she withered away.

She had recognized her assassin.

I glanced at the killing I caused. Eight corpses lay in the floor. Eight corrupted, treacherous corpses lay at my feet, showing what I was now able to do. Showing why I did not belong here anymore. I returned to the alley once more, taking the sac that I dropped before the fight. Before leaving, I decided to take the gold and jewellery they had on their selves, and the sac of bread, cheese and cold cuts of meat, and a new bottle of old wine.

As I approached the red brick road, I saw at the other end the red haired lady, looking at me with fearful eyes, sweating as if she had seen a ghost. I turned by back, and looked at my gloves and shirt covered in blood. She saw something worse than a ghost.

"Why?" She asked with fear, while looking at me with those no more innocent eyes of her.

"Because some people deserve to die" I responded with a blank and menacing expression, causing her to close her eyes in fear.

I walked alone, with adrenaline running through my veins, and blood remembering me who I truly am. My motorcycle was waiting for me at the end of the road, yet I had to return something to the townsfolk. I stood in the middle of the crossed shaped brick road, which extended to the north, south, east or west. I placed what belonged to them in the floor, letting he who wants what belongs to itself, or not, take it.

But, they did not dare to approach. The saw a murderer stand in the middle of the bazaar, placing an unknown object in the ground.

"This is what belong to you, what it was stolen from you people. I…I…have to say that those robbers, will not bother you anymore. Ever again." I said with melancholy, as I did not want to scare that people.

Yet, I did. They were not used to blood. Maybe they were to mild violence and raw language, but not to actual violence. I could only wonder how they would react to the corpses laying under the tree. I left that place as quick as I could, and went to the clothing store the family told me about.

"Hello, what can I help you with?" The owner spoke while riding the newspaper, yet he did not raise his head, so he did not see me.

I chose very quickly my attire. A button white shirt and a black waistcoat. With black pants and black loafers. It was classy, heavy attire, but the only thing you could purchase in a store of this calibre. I left the payment on the counter, took the sacs and left the bazaar. Staying there would be dangerous. Not for me, but for them.

Arriving home with my motorcycle felt good. It had its tank all filled up, meaning I could go later to retrieve the suit made for me by the old man. Without further thought, I quickly went to the kitchen and prepared breakfast. It was only eleven and a quarter, meaning there was still time to eat.

In a bowl, I mixed the pancake batter. I poured it on a pan, and then put the bacon covered in honey. A recipe Jake taught me, with a little addition we use in the sea. Then, I prepared the tomatoes paste, using the fresh tomatoes, spices and garlic. Some bread was sliced and went to the oven, covered in the sauce and grated cheese. Everything smelled delicious.

It was a normal breakfast from here, and the other part a common snack in one of the isles I own. Looking through the house, I found a round table and a chair. I repositioned them close to a window in the second living room, or kitchen, so I could enjoy the singing of the birds while eating. Everything was ready in a couple of minutes, which allowed me to enjoy the rest of the natural, morning light I enjoy so much.

Pour some wine, put some sauce and cheese in the bread, and serve the pancakes with milk and honey syrup. A complete meal for a full day. I started to drink the wine, and eat the bread, with some meat here and there, when I listened to light taps coming from upstairs. I closed my eyes to fully enjoy the taste and smell of the wine and bread.

"Finn…is that you" Her soft voice made me open my eyes instantly.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. May you join me for breakfast?"


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Deep within My Dreams**

**A/N: Well, three things. First, if anyone actually reads this story, sorry for not posting for so long. It took me a lot to finish this stuff, along writers block, and just hating this chapter as well. If you enjoy it, well, great you do. And, if you don´t, chill, I didn´t enjoy writing this chapter (Except the beggining and ending). Second, if you got any criticism (Good or Bad) please write it, I would love to read any opinions or advice, or just plain people saying "I hate your fucking story!". That must help in a way, does it? Third, I did some change to this chapter ending, as I felt it didn´t quite "end", so this is a half-assed revise version. P.D: I´ll modify every chapter until this one to make it more logical, and correct any typos. Well, enjoy! (Long ass A/N)**

I gazed into the abyss, not knowing what I could find, and I realized, after the darkness had already filled my vision, the emptiness and hollowness became everything, cold air filled my lungs taking away life´s heat, which the abyss was gazing back.

The gap was right in front of me, taunting me to jump, to embrace it. To become part of the emptiness. The snow kept falling, little white dots I could gaze over the white landscape. A blue, flat sky, with very few, grey clouds laid over my head. A snowflake fell on the tip of my nose, causing me to shiver. The red scarf began to move with the flowing wind, going against me. White dots began to follow the current's will, without asking or questioning. They began to cover my face, taking the warmth with them.

I tried to resist, and to use my arms and hands as a shield, yet there was so much snow flowing, that the gloves and the sweaters sleeves could only absorb the cold of the flow. Unforgiving, it tumbled me down to the floor, where I opened my eyes, only to see how the wind violently caressed my black hair. Hopelessly, it was only a matter of time for the wind to change its course, and mine, by pushing me into the void.

The lack of energy, my small height, dreamy eyes and shivering legs could not stand the will of nature anymore. Wind became stronger, lifting more white flakes off the ground, which looked like a country side full of little bumps and hills, covered in a white, sweet sugar powder. My skin, grey as always, was losing even more colour. My blood was losing temperature, and my dry throat wasn´t helping.

Next task was to rise once more, and fight to the coming winds. The abyss, swallowing anything that was on top or beside it, gazed me with a crueller vision as minutes passed by. Fear made me tremble, and the wind made me shiver. My breathing was faster as the time passed by. Adrenaline and fear, the mixture of a creature that only wants to run away. I closed my eyes, hoping for the best.

Suddenly, it all stopped.

It wasn´t hitting my face anymore, it didn´t caress my hair violently, it wasn´t hurting my eyes anymore. I could see the place once more, and wonder how big it was, as the white did not stop. Few leave less trees stood in some spots, but stood alone, as no animal, or any other type of plant rose over the white blanket. I touched my hair, feeling the warmth of it. Then, I patted my crimson gloves, and cream coloured sweater, realizing that there was no snow sticking on top of it.

At the moment, my legs were failing me, and my eyes could appreciate that after the shut down, I had fell to my knees. Warmth began to come down, and coldness started to rise. I crossed my arms, and quickly rose off the ground.

No animals, no people, no sun and no sound coated the simple, yet magnificent paint I stood on top. No life, too.

But, the void was still there and I´m still here. In front of it, watching how it watches me. Questions clouded my mind, asking me what I should do now. Just questions, as answers became inexistent. The power of will, of wanting to keep living, was withering away; as if the wind had sucked on my last dream, my last of hope, of keep living.

Life, it was just pain. I could not stand being alone, not anymore. Not ever again. The pressure of the void was making my chest feel heavy. Words fought against the nerves to come out. Screams of help, cries of sadness and fear, curses of rage and a last kind word. Nothing. No one, anybody, was going to hear them. Ergo, they never left my inwards.

I looked up to the sky, fighting against the natural, primal fear, to not cry of sorrow. A lonely cloud moved slowly across the blue sky, an inverted sea, looking for it´s others. It´s loneliness, proved how alone I was.

_Why did I have to be born? _

Tears slowly crawled out of my eyes and slipped slowly over my cheeks. I felt their warmth, as my whole body was starting to freeze due to the time spent of the outside. Nobody could know where I was, if there anybody in the first place. The void, glanced at me. Steps forward, were getting me closer to the edge. I, finally after so many thoughts, fear and doubts, could stand in the edge. Of the void, of the end, of my life.

Yet, I wasn't afraid, as this place could be called home. I´ve lived here all my life, in the edge of the void. Waiting, patiently, to jump into the darkness. I lowered my head, and looked to my feet. Half was in the snow, half was in the nothing.

"Paradoxical" I whispered

Cold became an enemy once more, but this time fought angrier than ever, as the violent Boreas blew with the might of his lungs, proving his titanic strength, that nature was unforgiving. I cried over death enough times in my life. Once, I was lucky enough to cry over my own. The thought of an abandoned, ignorant child, whose world didn´t extend further beyond the bars of the crib, or the door of the house. A big, lonely house.

He spoke to me through his action, remembering me the cruel, yet beautiful truth of the world. Of life. She gives, she takes. The currents punished my back angrier, stronger as the time went by. It was beautiful, thought. A small piano lullaby began to play inside my head, while memories of my life remembered me the pain, anguish, stress, sorrow and how ironically beautiful life was.

I saw my hair go with the flow of nature, with the will of that which is over me. That which we cannot control. Snowflakes accompanied the currents, while some stayed between the locks of hair which he was dragging. I smiled, remembering my life. How dad taught me to ice skate when I was four, how he cried in my six birthday. I remember tasting mother´s sweet, strawberry cake. Cream all over my and dad´s face, while she laughed, dropping tears of happiness.

She grabbed a camera, and took a picture from us. Little me, six years old, with dad. I remember, when we walked through the forest, how she told me that she loved me before going to sleep, how he taught me to land a punch. I remember, how he taught me to be detached, when he left me at seven. But, what I remember the most, while I look through my hair into the void, eating all the snowflakes, is him. He. The one who saved me, who took me under his wing, and besides his heart. He, who doesn´t remembers me anymore, but I do remember him.

The piano becomes slower, yet more peaceful. My mind is swarmed by the notes composing that beautiful masterpiece, closing my eyes, eliminating any distraction between me, and the darkness, from which the music comes from.

"La..La, la…la…" I hear something. Someone, I hear…her.

Darkness fills the north, yet I feel warmth behind me. I open my eyes, fearing what I could. Fearing who I could see. And, I see her. The one and only, the first, and, sadly, the last, I´ve ever truly feel love. Not family, but passionate love. A light, coming from the infinite beyond over my head, illuminates a piano, whose player is sitting in front of me. The figure was exposed to me, yet I wasn´t exposed to her.

I give a muted gasp, and hold onto my scarf. I see how the light, a yellow, yet clear light, bounces off her light, pink skin. Her white dress, delineating her hourglass figure, remember me what I could had taken as my mine. She continues with her lovely song, her lullaby, her medley, while I froze off in fear, appreciating her beauty, and my cowardice.

One step further, I was getting closer to her. I was tired. Answers had been in my head for a long time, but it was my duty to take them, to transform them into actions. I realized, that people had always given up on me, and, because of that, I would always give up on people.

My heart was beating faster, pounding my chest. Screaming with every beat, asking me to release, so it could be with her heart. The union of two beings, as one. Darkness and light. As she pressed every key, I gave two steps while running. The melody stayed peaceful, slow, but I could not. I had to be with her, as my chances were stopping to exist. A matter of time, which gave me limited time every moment I tried to turn things the other way.

"Just like an hourglass" She spoke softly, and giggled at the end.

Her words caused me to stop suddenly. I was home once more, at the edge between light and darkness. A place I felt comfortable, but alone. She stepped up, leaving the piano behind. Fear rumbled my body, and shivers caused my body to feel cold. I breathed hard, which allowed me to see my breath. A little cloud, looking for another one. Then, the could found her partner.

She stood right in front of me, with most of her face covered by the mask shaped like a swan. Her dressed, looked as if it was made of fur of a white tiger, and feathers of a white phoenix. It shined perfectly with the light, which could only light a circle surrounding her and the magnificent instrument.

The clouds mashed together, and, with eyes of a child, I saw how their union allowed them to rise up. To leave the void. She glanced at me, with a look of loneliness, of sadness. She extender her hand, and landed it over the edge of light, as if a glass was between the two of us. The piano, alongside other instrument's, began to play. I saw how the keys were being pushed down, and how she was waiting for me, to accompany her. My hand moved, looking for hers, and when I finally arrived, I could not grab her.

As if a barrier was between us. A shock went through my body, navigating all the way up to my bones. She looked disappointed. Her hand, slowly, has leaving mine. They never touched. She walked back to the piano, while I raged and screamed in pain. I punched the light, the crystal barrier between us. She walked slowly, and I was hitting faster.

With disappointment, I accepted my fate that I wasn´t going to be with her. Not ever again. Enough chances she gave me once and all I did was causing her pain, inconveniences. Make her feel as if she was not wanted. But if I could tell her now, that she´s the only thing I wasn't right now.

"I…love you…" I whispered while tears left my eyes.

She sat down, and played the piano once more. For me. And, once more, I felt the cold. I woke up from that dream, inside the void, to appreciate the white landscape once more. Visions of a lost past, and a negated future. At the edge, once more. I stood up, and balanced myself front, waiting for the inevitable.

And, after that, I gave a step front, and the darkness started to surround me. Alongside peace, the fall was calmed, and I wasn´t afraid of what could be inside it, as the piano medley became louder as seconds pass by. I knew what I could find at the end of the fall. But I didn´t.

I closed my eyes, and woke up once more. Now, my knees were on top of a frozen little lake, whose borders were surrounded by infinite pines, and the frontiers with mountains. All being coated by the snow. But, I could still see the green of the pines, while a herd of wild clouds flew over my head. Little animals walked these prairies, this infinite forest.

Now, it was time for exploration. It would´ve been a bad idea to stay there, as the ice started to crack due to its thin layer property. A sound of a dying animal came from my right side, causing me to instantly glance at it. Between the trees, it laid a giant sabre tooth tiger, withering away while the arrow stuck out from one side to another. It cried, and cried, begging for the sweet release of death.

I sprinted towards the creature, while wondering why. A shadow moved with incredible speed towards the beast, making me stop to wonder and evaluate what that shadow was, or is. Nothing but a caped hunter, wearing a large black tunic with red stripes which stich a cross at the back. The hunter moved its hand, making me wonder if he would take a knife or a gun from his holsters, but with a rapid movement a blade came down from a sort of wristbands made of metal and leather. The beast was roaring, or at least it was trying. It´s breath was heavy and slow, while its eyes were fighting to stay open.

In a moment of honesty, and pure beauty of life, the hunter gave the beast what it most desire. The sweet release of death. With a quick stab to the heart, the beast withered away while it roared to the twilight, in a matter of gratefulness. The hunter knew what he had done, and closed the beast eyes. Proving my hypothesis, the hunter retrieved it´s arrows. I was watching behind some bushes, yet he glanced at me, while he was skinning the magnificent, white feline beast.

I froze at the moment that it, or he, decided to take his hood off. He started walking towards me, while his hands took his hood, and slowly took it off. It revealed the face of a young man, no more than a couple years of what I look of age, with a scar on his right cheek, and one small one on his left eyebrow. His eyes were blue, contrasting with the red of mine. His hair also contrasted, while I wore the red, dark night, he had the blue sky and shining sun. A hair, flowing with the cold wind, blonde as the sun, yet beginning with dark roots.

Even though his whole appearance startled me, I could not negate that he was a healthy, handsome man.

_What the hell am I thinking? He just killed a Sabre Tooth tiger!_

"Come with me" I felt his voice and breath behind me, warming a bit my back.

"Aaaah!" I got scared and jump towards him, in an attempt to knock him out.

"What are you doing?" He grabbed my arm, proving how futile my efforts were.

I could only look up to him, as he towered me for almost thirty centimeters. His grip was tight, strong. I wasn´t surprised, as his skinning a beast of three meters of length requires lots of power.

Then, everything went silent.

"Marcy" He said

I was surprised, as I couldn´t think of someone calling me that way anymore, or at least him, a total unknown to me.

"Marceline" And then, he just…hugged me.

His warmth, as he was covered in pelts, made me feel at home. Safe. And I just gave up in that moment.

"Finn…Finn…Finn..." I called instinctively Finn´s name as tears left my eye sockets.

But he couldn´t be Finn, he disappeared long ago, to never return.

"Where are we?" I asked, as when I opened my eyes we were in a shack.

I was resting on top of a wood and pelts bed, in this wooden cabin. I glanced everywhere, seeing that it was only made of logs of wood, but it was cozy and warm. A light was sitting on top of a nightstand to my right, which used oil as its source. Between the light and shadows, I saw the hunter strip off his clothing's. I could only see his back, but when he took off his robes, I was surprised by the pirate and privateer tattoos running from his neck, to his back, to his arms and lower back.

"Who are you?" I asked astounded.

He turned to me, and I realized who he was.

"An old friend" He spoke.

I heard birds coming, and the heart was unbearable. He approached me, but his image was getting drowsy, while the cabin was starting to rumble. The lamp fell off, leaving light escape.

"It´s nice to see you again" He said for the last time.

Then, I woke up. It was Finn´s bed in the old tree house where I was sleeping. I was covered in pelts, letting me know why it was so hot.

"When the hell did I…?" I wondered, as I cloudy remembered when or why I stepped this tree in the first place, but not sleeping in his bed.

A shiver came down my spine, as I remembered the place I decide to sleep. A rainy, cold night in this lonely, abandoned tree. I tried to heat myself, but as I did, I realized something was off. Skin that felt like leather.

_But leather is a type of skin, isn´t it?_

I looked at my arms, forearms, and chest. A black, hooded leather jacket was covering me. Not knowing who it belonged to, made me see, or smell, if I could recognize any essence. A deep breath went through the cloth and leather of this jacket. It was something I had smell before, even tasted, but I could not remember when or who I smelled. A new essence, belonging to the rain mixed with the sea, and some well water, coated the already dried jacket.

Some bits of burned coal and wood stuck in the essence, giving it a weird water and fire essence. A magnificent and rare essence, belonging to an unknown. I took a second breath, with as much air require to totally analyze this odor. There was a smell of blood, of war, I could never forget. Instantly, I opened my eyes in fear. An essence that belonged to a warrior. I stepped out of the bed, just so I could stretch myself, and walk myself out of that thought. Also, I was really thirsty.

I walked, slowly, down the stairs, as I felt dizzy because of a small sickness remain from couple days ago. Cracks and sounds came as I took every step, showing how soaked and wet this old roble is. I remember when it was just a single sprout, and then, it became a strong tower. Just like an old friend of mine, who I don´t know if it towers anyone.

With my fingers, I took once more the jacket and sniffed it´s smell. Finally, I could recognize it´s odor, it´s essence. It wasn´t as unknown as I thought, and memories of it came back to me. The stairway was ending, and I could see the light coming from the kitchen. The essence remembered me of my old, well, young, friend. Finn the Human.

_Finn, where did you go?_

I could only sigh, while smiling a bit, knowing that, due to his strength, he was, or is safe right now, wherever he is. It´s almost, as if I could feel him. As I approached the last stair, I questioned how did this jacket could have Finn´s essence. Well, a similar one. This one is more strong in pheromones, meaning he would need to be older. But also, who put it on me in the beginning.

I scratched my eyes when I arrived the kitchen finally, as light blinded me. I opened and there was a form, a shadow, moving while the light entered my eyes and created a picture. Seconds passed, and my eyes showed me what was there. My nose could smell fresh pancakes, with bread and wine, while my ears listened to the birds sing and the wind move the grass. But nothing mattered, as my vision clouded me with questions.

He sat in the little table close to the window, while sipped wine, closing his eyes. Wind caressed his blonde, dark rooted hair, while his eyebrows fell. I could smell the same scent, but cleaner this time. He wore fancy clothes, than looked nothing like those ragged shorts, and weird bear cap he once wore. I realized who he was, or is. A man.

"Finn, is that you?" I asked instinctively.

He opened his eyes slowly, while his eyelashes moved up, and his blue, diamond eyes move towards my figure, glancing at me, while finishing his sip of red wine. He stirred the glass, and drew a grin in his face.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. May you join me for breakfast?" He said with a suave tone, while smiling to me.

His hand moved slowly, pointing to the seat in front of him. He never stopped looking at me, while smiling to me in a way I hadn´t felt in a long time.

_Beauty…?_


	9. Chapter 8

**Author´s Note: **

**Sorry for taking so long with this stuff, but I had a massive writers block. I want to state that I´ll be modifying this story to make it better, and avoid confusion. All chapters will be revised, so if you wonder if something changed, it possibly did. Anyway, hope you like this chapter, and please review it and tell me what you think about it. Everything helps. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Postponed Plans**

"Thy Queen, thy Queen! Thee organizers needed thou presence! There hath been an outrageous mistake!" Screams were followed by multiple hits on the door.

"Ughh…" I groaned, as my body was suffering exhaustion due to the ball.

It was already morning, as I could see through the little spaces of my eyelids that were slowly opening. The sun's light had failed to blind me, as the curtains, thin and covered in pink floral patterns, covered the bed. My hands were numb, as I had slept on top of the pillow above them, facing down the bed. It was a bright light, accompanied by the smell of fresh roses and dandelions, along bird's chants and the peace of my people, what came through the window located to the right of me.

"Is thy Queen prepared now to attend the matters?" Peppermint butler asked once more.

I sighed deeply, and realized it was time. Slowly, my movements helped me to wake up the rest of my body, and, as my hair started to move and cover my eyes, yet not fully open, I smiled as I watched a Mockingbird and a Blue jay caressing each other's feathers. A melody sang by such small creature, spoken to its blue companion, smoothened the quiet, yet not silent, morning.

"In a moment…" I paused to yawn while leaving the bed "…I´ll be ready, Peppermint butler, and what´s going on with you and such eloquent vocabulary?" A small taunt while I stretched beside my bed.

The little sugar man started to ramble about his new words, yet I ignored his claims or explanations, as the Blue Jay and Mockingbird stared at each other's eyes. They moved in synchronization, repeating every move, touching beaks while doing those movements. I felt like a kid, a child, seeing a first kiss.

"...and we don't have much time! So forgive me for this, My Queen!" A knock followed by a hit on the floor came from the door. It was just peppermint butler, who in desperation he violated my privacy.

"May I know why are you doing this outrageous act?" I asked irritated, as I wasn´t ready. I had just barely steeped out of bed!

"Umpff…" He groaned while he stood up, cleaning the dust off his little, blue tuxedo. "I' am deeply sorry for violating your privacy, yet I have important matters that need to be discussed with thou highness!" He approached me, angered and sweating, while he slipped out of his chest pocket an envelope.

I took the envelope out of his hands, as it must be something important due to my faithful underling creating such mess.

"I hope this might explain my actions and temperament" In an apologizing matter, he kneeled while I opened the envelope.

A bone coloured envelope, in a rectangular shape with patters the seemed like crowns, long, rectangular strings of silk and stem less flowers gave the envelope texture. It was soft. Carefully, I removed the seal, marked with the Queen's crown, which closed the important package.

"Just like I expected…" I said while taking out the letter, and carefully reading it´s content.

"What is it written in it, my liege?" He asked, still kneeling, without looking at my face, closing his eyes.

_Day Thirty of the Twelve Month of the Year XX98_

_Dear Queen Bonnibel Von Wolff_

_Regards, from the counsel of the Queens of the Kingdom Continent_

_We have been preoccupied for the few past moons, as your Kingdom has not send_

_Any regards or information during the last trimester._

_We hope, that you may send an update of the status of your lands_

_Meaning that the Royal Counsel Won´t be required to interfere in your land´s matters._

_Ignoring that fact, we, the Queens specially, have to inform that the dance_

_Which you will host, and we are very grateful for it, must be postponed for two more nights_

_All the guests have been informed already, and we ask for your understanding_

_The Why´s of this will be explained in the Dance, so we ask for patience_

_Thank You for Your Attention and Understanding_

_Signed by:_

_Scarlett Von Wilde Länder, Queen of the Wildberry Kingdom_

_Brumhilda Oppenheimer, Queen of the Breakfast Kingdom_

_Lauren Selene Paige, Queen of the Lumpy Space Kingdom_

_Sabrina Van Der Schleim, Queen of the Slime Kingdom_

_Galina Van Der Hölle, Queen of the Purgatorial Kingdom_

_Marceline Abadeer, Queen of the Night O´Sphere _

_Elyse Reinhardt, Queen of the Diamond Lands_

_Errol Ichabod Säure, Earl of the Earldom of Lemongrab_

_Olaf Pyros, King of the Fire Kingdom_

_Maxwell Von Wolff, Governor General of the Ice Kingdom under the Candy Kingdom_

And, with Maxwell´s sign at last, the letter was over.

"So, it was just a warning? Huh… I feel quite disappointed" I said, while Peppermint Butler stood up.

"It´s not just a warning, my Queen, it´s a promise. We know they would do what it´s inked in that paper, and is no warning. I´ll charge the task of making the report to the administration, and as soon as they are ready I´ll give them to you" With a serious tone, he spoke while putting his arms behind his back.

"Then, you´re free to go. I have matters to attend on my own." I said while looking at me, still covered in my pyjamas.

"Errr, not quite, my liege." He said while I walked towards the bathroom, to the left of the room.

"Speak, you´re making me late for my bath. I need to clean myself." I explained while approaching the stone carved door of my bathroom.

"There is a young captain, who belongs to the north white bear fleet, who wants to speak to thyself and offer tributes to you." He said while leaving through the huge door of my bedroom.

_A young Captain, belonging to the North White Bear Fleet…_

In my few knowledge of this fleet, and overall pirate knowledge, I know that those of the north are dangerous men. The Norse, or Northeners, as the navy call them, are fearful and violent, yet they don´t attack innocent villages or innocent people. Interesting pirates, or privateers as they call themselves.

"So, what are you going to do with that man, my Liege?" He asked while leaving, but he still could hear my answer.

"I´ll have a talk with in thirty minutes." I looked at the clock hanging from the roof, seeing that it was just seven and a quarter.

"As you say, my Queen" It was hard, yet not impossible to hear his answer as he walked the corridors of this castle, towards the main hall.

I entered the bathroom, with white walls and clear pink tiles, with floral patter paint in the roof. Columns made of marble, coloured in a pale white, closed this room. I stood in front of the door, while slowly it closed. When it did, I wondered many things.

Feeling that the counsel needed an update, the fact that Marceline decided to join, a captain of a pirate ship, and the dance being postponed two nights. Information that did not necessary startled me, but seemed so sudden. As I walked towards the shower, I wondered why some of these matters were happening. Entering the shower seemed as a relief, as a reward, but not before removing my clothes.

Simple pyjamas, that followed a pattern, in which the pants and shirt were both made of cotton, while the below was tinted black with a white rose and it´s stem, going in a spiral from my left thigh towards my ankle. The shirt was simpler, as it was white in the chest, but pink in the sleeves. Simple, light and comfortable.

My robes dropped while I removed them, slowly, as thoughts still rumbled my mind. As the shirt fell, the returning thought of what happens in the seas, made me fear of a lost, young friend; who´s heart blinded his mind, and with a broken soul tried to drown through forgetting.

As I saw my naked reflection in the crystal door of the shower, I could appreciate in myself, not in an egocentrically way, what a young one once admired and dreamt of having. My figure reflected a shape of an hourglass, and I could appreciate the size of my breast. A little smaller than average. Could I be able to feed children with them? My hips, at least bigger than average, could support the birth of a child? My pink skin, sweet and pure, is it frail? My thin arms, my rounded thighs, could attract a worthy male?

_A worthy King?_

Finally, I was under the shower head, while the water caressed violently my hair, just to loosen up and touch gently the rest of my body. I stood there, while the cold water woke me up, dribbling away any remaining thoughts or dreams, as I focused on my lost friend. I wondered many nights, many days, if he could be alive. Would he still be a champion between pirates, the captain of a navy, just another filthy pirate, or a mighty raider of the six seas?

He would be now a young man, no older than sixteen or seventeen years. Remembering how I once denied his fervour wish of accompanying me, holding my hand, towards the uncertainty of the future. The past had already scared my mind many times, and my deeds have damaged others, and while I cannot take my words, I can at least beg and wait for someone who would forgive them. And I believe, that those who once came into my life, and I so selfishly denied were those who wanted to forgive. Ironically enough, and while making me giggle, and shedding tears of sadness who would be washed away with the water, I knew that while I tried to change them or denied them for what they were, they always accepted me. Loved me.

"Finn…if you´re out there…in a small boat fishing…In a great ship captaining it…or resting at the bottom of the ocean…please now that I…that I…am sorry…"

But I knew that he wouldn´t listen to me, as my words have hurt him enough. He would ignore me, returning the pain that I once caused. As I accept my guilt, I must beg for forgiveness.

Finishing my shower, I was already clean, ready to attend the matters of my kingdom. I could only hope that the water had washed away any though of remorse, as my people must not see me in such state. They count on me, and I must be strong for them, as no one else will be. Entering my room, and feeling the soft, light purple carpet made me smile. The coldness of the water may have cleaned myself, but it wasn´t as nice as if it was hot.

I approached the large room, just in front of the bathroom, known as my closet. A day that would be busy must require formal attire, but comfortable and light. My gratefulness towards my maids that, in gratitude, set my attires ready for me. They were hanged at the end of the room. Jackets, shirts, and such were hanged. While other stuff likes underwear, shorts and pants were safely storage in the drawers of the wardrobes that extended, alongside this room.

Quickly, I chose my attire, starting with some underwear, which reminded of lingerie, yet it wasn´t as expository. The rest was easy, as a long, pink dress without straps was hanging right in front of me, with some low heels, coated of pink with a amethyst in the middle, stood by its side. Such matters were not as important as tending what was ahead of this day.

After putting perfume on me, a light white, diamond necklace and my crown, I left my room so I could attend the young privateer who was waiting. My pocket watch, which I had attached to my hand but rolling it´s chain, told me that it was seven and thirty five, meaning that there was spare time for me to discuss any matter with that man.

The long hall connected to lots doors, most of which were spare, if any one wanted to sleep in them it's completely alright. They were by each side, and between them there was a fine table, which had on top either a vase full of extravagant flowers, or a statuette. Alongside there were many chandeliers, of the finest quality. And where there was no door, it laid a rounded window, with many divisions, creating a mosaic.

Finally, I approached the stairs. They were long, covered in the purple carpet that coated all of the halls of the second floor, but not totally, as it coated the middle yet the sides were planks of a reddish brown. Princesses have visited the reconstruction of this castle, which I built long ago, and I feel that this new vision of the castle will hopefully home some of my descendants.

As I stepped down of the last step, I went to my right, the hall where my throne was located, and where I could admire my people as they celebrate during festivities. Today, it was almost empty, nothing but tables with flower vases on top, doors which lead to spare rooms, the high windows and the curtains the were hanged by their sides. The floor was no longer carpet, but rather tiles which formed patterns of triangles, coloured in many shades of reddish blue and pink.

"Peppermint butler, where is thy privateer?" I spoke while I sat in the throne, right at the bottom of the hall.

"In a moment, my Queen" He appeared from the insides of a spare room by the side of the door.

The door made out of wood and carved preciously, in a way you could appreciate the great gods that the people once believed in. Before it there was a little stair, made out of three steps, yet it was wide, coated with white tiles and a blue border.

"My Queen, here it is the Privateer" Peppermint Butler spoke while opening the doors.

A figure, tall, of great built entered the hall. It´s footsteps had power, strength. The whole outfit of the privateer was amazing. You could not see his face as he wore a red hood, with patterns of the revolution heroes. His pants were of brown leather, and his boots, high and finely polished, were as black as the deepness of the seas. His jacket was wide, due to his figure, and it´s sleeves long. The insides were of a leather brown, yet most of the colour was a red, which looked like velvet, and the epaulettes were gold. He had stripes of white crossing in an X, and buttons coming down.

The patter of his hood followed through the jacket, proving that he had to be someone important, worthy of captaining a vessel, as wearing such robes require only accept those who are worthy. He carried two swords, whose sheaths were white and borders gold, to his left and a modified, twelve shots flintlock to his left. A dangerous, armed man, who didn´t intent to harm me, regardless of my position, as if he did, he would have not wasted so much time travelling this long hall.

He kneeled once he was close to me, yet not enough to touch the few stairs towards the throne.

"Speak" I said in a serious tone, evaluating this man.

"As you say, My Queen" He stood up, and I could listen to his deep, harsh voice.

"Uncover you" I said to him while he was ready to say his first word.

"As you say, My Queen" Then, he proceeded to take off his hood with his left hand.

Slowly, he did so. I was astonished by him.

"Who are you" I said once more in curiosity.

"My name, my Queen, is Arbaaz Ibn Rus." A peculiar name, regular of the old Mountain Kingdom.

He had a massive figure, towering the two meters. A wide back, possibly moulded by the necessity of swimming the unforgiving seas. His legs were longer than his torso, and his face, while humanoid, lacked any hair. His nose was one of a bull, and his lips, thick and brown. All of his skin must have been lighter in the past, but now was a dark, brown, maroon sort of colour. You could easily see his exaggerated jawline, and big masseter muscle, giving him a form rounded on top, yet box like in some parts.

"Today, I can gladly come here, and offer you my services as a Captain of a Warship. Even though, I´m the underling of an even greater man, my experience is great and the seas are my homeland. To prove myself, I have gathered many presents towards this kingdom, which are waiting to be brought here in the following hours." A monologue he had prepared, none the less, but extremely polite and fluent.

"Why?" I asked in a wondering matter.

"Why? What do you mean, thy Queen?" He was dumbfounded by my question.

"You were born in the Mountain Kingdom?" I asked casually

"Yes, my Queen. Yet I was raised in the seas, alongside men of the ocean" He spoke with great pride, while a smile painted his face.

"Then, why are you giving me these tributes?" I stood of the throne, so he could hear my question.

Instantly, he kneeled.

"Thy Queen Bonnibel, I'm more than grateful for what you have achieved. Many people of the kingdom I was born in are now population of yours. This is just my thank you, as many members of my family, and friends, have found the peace and goodness of life in your lands."

Instantly, his answer shocked me. My palms covered my face, as no one had ever said anything to me about that. I could truly say, I was happy for his response.

"Then, Arbaaz Ibn Rus, I shall accept gladly this presents" I said while sitting down.

"Thank you, My Queen" In humbleness and gentleness, he answered.

"I should be the one thanking you, Rus. What are those present you offer?" I was honestly, curious about what he was going to give me.

"Mostly, my Queen, wealth of the seas. Be it gold, food, fish and immigrants, if you allow it so." He answered happily.

"Immigrants? For Victoria´s Lair? They will be of great use, we need manpower nowadays. The price of progress is never too expensive" I said happily, but calm. "But, let me ask you, Rus, who is that man that you´re and underling of?"

"Great question, My Queen. My captain over a captain, is no one less or more than Liam Cormac V" He said in a proud way, ignoring that Cormac is the most looked pirate in the north.

"Isn´t that dangerous? Being his underling? Even though he is not looked for in this continent, he is in many other places. The bounty to his head grows larger and larger by the day, making yours an extension" My answer was cold.

"It is dangerous, but, trust me my Queen, he is a man worth dying for" His sentence startled me, yet made me curious on what type of fellow is this Cormac one.

"Peppermint butler!" I screamed for his attention, making Rus and Peppermint butler jump in surprise.

"Yes my Liege?!" He screamed back.

"Tell the organizers to keep everything as planned, but that the dance will be in two more nights." I said.

"Yes my Liege!" He screamed back, and ran towards the door.

"And you, Rus." I said softly, yet serious.

"Yes…. my Queen?" This time he answered nervously, but he didn´t kneeled.

"I want to meet this fellow named Liam Cormac, I´m more the curious about what kind of person he is" I said in a serious tone, while a grin coated my face.

"Of course, my Queen. But, why?" He asked dumbfounded once more, like a child.

"I want to know what kind of man is someone worth dying for"


End file.
